President Donald Trump on Thursday hailed the announcement of a “ceasefire” in northern Syria as a “great day” for Turkey and the Kurds in Syria and Turkey.

“We have a five-day ceasefire,” Trump told reporters after US Vice President Mike Pence said that Ankara had agreed to suspend its military operation, and end it entirely once Kurdish fighters withdraw from a safe zone.

“It’s a great day for the United States,” the president said in Fort Worth, Texas, where he is to hold a reelection rally.

“It’s a great day for Turkey,” Trump said. “It’s a great day for the Kurds. It’s a great day for civilization.”

“This is a situation where everybody´s happy,” Trump declared.

Trump said sanctions on Turkey “won’t be necessary” now and heaped praise on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“He’s a hell of a leader,” Trump said. “He did the right thing.

“I have great respect for the president.”

Asked whether he believed the ceasefire would last, Trump said: “I think it’s going to last.”

“I think President Erdogan’s very smart,” he said. “He wants it to last.”

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