US envoy Thomas Barrack: Hezbollah is a Lebanese issue… no one will keep negotiating with Beirut forever

BEIRUT — In an interview with Lebanon’s LBC channel, US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack stated, that “no one will continue to negotiate with Lebanon until next year. President Donald Trump has remarkable courage and focus, but what he doesn’t have is patience.”

Barrack added, that Hezbollah is a Lebanese issue, not an international one. However, from a political standpoint, the Americans have designated it a terrorist organization. “So, if they mess with us militarily anywhere, as the President made clear, they’ll have a problem with us.”

He emphasized that the disarmament of Hezbollah has always been a “very simple and clear principle, reaffirmed repeatedly by President Trump and the Secretary of State: one country, one people, one army.”

Barrack clarified that this refers not only to Hezbollah’s weapons, but also to the arms held by Palestinian factions and other militias. “If the political leadership chooses this path,” he said, “we will guide and support them.”