U.S. presidential contender Donald Trump appeared to endorse Russia's air raids in Syria and said he would send thousands of Syrian refugees home if he is elected in November 2016.
The leading Republican candidate's remarks to CNN came as Russian warplanes hit what Moscow said was Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria -- a claim questioned by the West.
"Look, if Russia wants to go in there, would have been nice if we went in as a unified front, to be honest. But if Russia wants to go in there and knock out ISIS and maybe stabilize this big migration with 200,000 people into the United States...." Trump said.
"If I win, I'm going to say it right now and I'll say it to you, those 200,000 people -- they have to know this and the world will hear it -- are going back.... We're not going to accept 200,000 people that may be [Islamic State militants]. We have no idea who they are," he said.
The Obama administration has so far admitted 1,500 Syrian refugees and recently announced it would raise its yearly cap on worldwide refugees from 70,000 to 100,000 in 2017.
