"A small peacekeeping group of about 200 will remain in Syria for [a] period of time," Sanders said on Thursday as quoted by CBS News.
Earlier, the White House said President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed in a phone conversation a possible creation of a safe zone in northern Syria.
President Donald Trump announced in December that the United States would leave Syria. However, no exact deadline for the return of 2,000 troops has been revealed by US officials yet.
Meanwhile, Senator Lindsey Graham said in a press release that Trump’s plan to leave a small contingent of forces in Syria will ensure that Daesh* will not return.
"I applaud President Trump’s decision to leave a small contingent of American forces in Syria as part of an international stabilizing force," Graham said on Thursday. "This will ensure ISIS [Daesh] does not return and Iran does not fill the vacuum that would have been left if we completely withdrew."
The US troops have been operating in Syria as part of an international coalition for about five years without the permission of Syrian authorities or the UN Security Council. The United States has, in particular, supported the Kurdish-led militia controlling the territories to the east of the Euphrates and opposing the Syrian government.
*Daesh, also known as Islamic State or ISIS/ISIL — is a terror group banned in US, Russia and many other countries.