Pence: Trump asked Erdogan to 'end the invasion' of Syria

Pence told reporters at the White House that Trump also asked Erdogan to enter into negotiations with Kurdish forces in Syria, noting that "President (Trump) was very firm with President Erdogan."

The US vice president added that he would travel to Turkey soon at the request of Trump to discuss the Syrian case.

According to the US vice president, Erdogan pledged to Trump "that there will be no attack on the city of Kobani."

Pence's statement came shortly after the US Treasury announced that President Trump had imposed sanctions on Turkey, including two ministries and three ministers, to force Ankara to "immediately end its military offensive" on Kurdish factions in northeastern Syria.

The sanctions included the ministries of defense and energy and the ministers of energy, defense and interior, who are barred from entering the United States and from any international financial transaction in US dollars, and their funds in the United States, if any, are frozen, the ministry said in a statement.

The sanctions were imposed by an executive order signed by Trump that also sanctioned a large number of Turkish officials involved in acts that endanger or destabilize civilians in northeastern Syria.

According to the statement, the Trump administration decided at the moment to limit these sanctions to the two ministries and the three ministers only.

Pence's statement came shortly after US Secretary of War Mark Esper issued a statement strongly condemning the Turkish military offensive, which he described as "unacceptable," which resulted in the "release of many dangerous detainees" belonging to the terrorist group "Daesh", indicating that Washington would ask NATO to take "action" against Turkey for "undermining" the international mission to combat the terrorist organization.