London and Paris have still not received answers from Washington on a number of issues before determining their role in the international coalition in east Syria, mainly after the Russian and US armies renewed a deal on collision avoidance in the war-torn country. Since President Donald Trump modified his original decision to withdraw all US forces from Syria early this year, a series of unofficial bilateral meetings were held between US and European officials, and other meetings attended by American, Turkish, Russian and EU officials and Syrian representatives form the East Euphrates region to discuss the presence of coalition forces in Syria. “The Pentagon is keeping more than 400 soldiers east of the Euphrates and in the Tanf base,” Asharq Al-Awsat learned on Friday. Washington has been exerting pressure on its European and regional allies to stay engaged in east Syria. However, the US allies have still unanswered questions on the size of their military contribution to such force and the extent of Washington’s commitment to keep its troops in Syria. The allies want to prevent a surprise decision by the US president similar to his tweet late last year when he announced the full withdrawal of his troops from Syria. Sources said Washington has already answered some questions on the memorandum of understanding with Russia to avoid an inadvertent clash over Syria, and the US commitment to keep its forces east of the country in the “short term.” In 2015, Washington and Moscow signed a document, which called for US and Russian aircraft to maintain a safe distance and keep pilots safe. However, Turkey’s role east of the Euphrates River is seen as an obstacle. Turkey has repeatedly announced it has completed preparations for a military operation targeting US-supported Kurdish units in Manbij and east of the Euphrates. It also deployed large numbers of troops and reinforced military mechanisms along the border with Syria. However, it suspended the operation after Trump announced the US withdrawal from Syria and his proposal in December to establish a safe zone east of the Euphrates. This week, European countries and the US sent letters to Ankara warning Syria’s neighbor from the dangers of individually deploying in the area.