The message from US Special Presidential Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, Brett McGurk, was clear: “Members of the alliance need to share the military and financial burden in northeastern Syria.” In other words, they must provide $300 million and deploy special units to fill the vacuum that will be left behind by the gradual withdrawal of American troops from the region. Brussels had hosted on the margins of the NATO summit earlier this week a ministerial conference for members of the anti-ISIS coalition. Diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that McGurk had sent a written message ahead of the conference to explain the American stance that will be based on US President Donald Trump’s upcoming decision to withdraw his country’s troops from northeastern Syria. He will make his stance in November and explain that the troops will be withdrawn within an eight-month period. Trump wanted to make an “immediate withdrawal” from the country, but his aides and allies advised him against it. They instead urged him to make a “conditional withdrawal” based on the complete elimination of ISIS from its pockets on the Syrian-Iraqi border. The second condition will depend on the Iranian presence in the region, with Washington and its allies saying that American deployment in northeastern Syria will block the establishment of a land route between Tehran and Damascus and consequently weaken Iran’s role in the region. Meanwhile, a new proposal on Syria was made ahead of next week’s highly anticipated summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. The suggestion calls for linking the American withdrawal from northeastern Syria and dismantling the Tanf military base on the Syrian-Iraqi-Jordanian border to keeping Iran at a distance of 80 kms from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. France, Britain and Italy have raised the number of their troops in the anti-ISIS coalition based on Trump’s demand. This will help speed up the terror group’s destruction and help shoulder the military and financial burden. It will also help persuade Trump to extend the stay of US forces in Syria, which will be used as a negotiations card with the Russians as they search for a political solution in the war-torn country and pressure Iran to withdraw or diminish its role there. Asharq Al-Awsat learned that the US Department of Defense has started to conduct studies to define its military withdrawal, which will see a drop in American troops and increase in allied forces. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had held talks in Brussels with his counterparts in the anti-ISIS coalition. The officials had welcomed ongoing efforts and advances made by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in liberating eastern Syria from remaining ISIS pockets. The forces were also hailed for working with the coalition and its partners on eliminating any traces of ISIS and securing the Syrian-Iraqi border. The Trump-Putin summit on Monday will likely be decisive in determining the fate of American troops in Syria, ending Iran’s presence there and tackling the political process. United Nations special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura is banking on a new political dynamic being established that will be able to achieve a breakthrough at the upcoming peace meetings in Astana, Geneva and Sochi.