U.S. says struck ceasefire deal knowing Kurdish YPG could not hold territory

(Reuters) - The United States struck a ceasefire agreement with Turkey on Thursday that will halt the fighting in exchange for a retreat by Kurdish YPG militia from a "safe zone" area in part because the U.S. believed the Kurds would not be able to hold that area militarily anyway, a top U.S. official said.

"There's no doubt that the YPG wishes that they could stay in these areas," U.S. Special Envoy to Syria James Jeffrey told pool reporters travelling with him. "It is our assessment that they have no military ability to hold onto these areas and therefore we thought that a ceasefire would be much better ... for trying to get some kind of control over this chaotic situation."