The U.S. Special Representative for Syria James Jeffrey on Monday said the tension between Ankara and Washington over Turkey's statements of a new military operation in the east of Euphrates had been eased, in a speech he made at Atlantic Council meeting titled 'The future of U.S. policy in Syria'.

Asked by a Wall Street Journal reporter to give an update on the recent U.S.- Turkey relations, Jeffrey said there had been a considerable build-up of tension between Turkey, the United States and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

SDF is mainly formed by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) forces and its political wing Democratic Union Party (PYD). Turkey has been criticising the U.S. support for the group since it says YPG has links to Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey.

"And this is a concern to Turkey, we understand its concerns. We are committed to Turkey's security. We have been talking extensively to the Turks," Jeffrey said.

Regarding Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's statements on Dec. 12 signalling a new offensive into the east of Euphrates River, Jeffrey said the United States had reached out to Turkey at every level, including Friday call from President Trump to his Turkish counterpart.

"We have to wait and see. I believe that the situation has calmed somewhat, I believe that we are willing to work with the Turks and people on the ground to find a way forward," the U.S. envoy said.

A Rudaw TV reporter asked about Erdoğan's claims after the phone call that Trump had an understanding of the planned offensive into northeastern Syria.

"Given that the Pentagon said something like that would not be unacceptable. Is there a lack of consensus in Washington on the response of the Turkish planned offensive in Syria?" the reporter asked.

"Once again, we think that any offensive into northeastern Syria by anyone is a bad idea and that was the position. I conveyed this when I was in Ankara," Jeffrey responded.

"We are very focused on Turkish security. But, we are also very focused on finishing the fight against ISIS.

So, we are going to be again managing and monitoring this very closely," he added.