Vladimir Putin uses Bashar al-Assad's to Moscow visit to talk up Kremlin role as Syria broker, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited Moscow in his first known trip outside his country since the start of its conflict, a show of defiance to the West and a sign of Russia’s effort to position itself as the essential power broker in the region.
Sitting opposite Mr. Assad in the Kremlin in a video released Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Syrian government had “achieved significantly positive results” in its fight against an array of opposition forces, and was prepared to help lead the country to a political solution to end the war.
The official Syrian Arab News Agency confirmed that Mr. Assad met with Mr. Putin on Tuesday at the Russian leader’s invitation, saying the two leaders had discussed further joint operations against terrorist groups in Syria, using the Syrian government’s term for its opponents.Russia began an aerial-bombardment campaign in support of Mr. Assad’s forces in late September, a move that is frustrating Washington and its allies and complicating a U.S.-led coalition effort to rout Islamic State.
Mr. Putin’s invitation gives the Syrian leader a strong show of public support and underlines Moscow’s commitment in the face of the West’s criticism. With its military intervention, the Kremlin positioned itself as the key player in resolving the four-year-old conflict—and helped Mr. Assad avert outright defeat on the battlefield.
In the months before the bombing campaign, Syrian government forces had been losing ground through defections and combat losses; now, the government in Damascus is confident enough to press an offensive to regain territory once considered out of Mr. Assad’s control.
The regime began a ground offensive around the city of Aleppo on Friday. Syrian, Iranian and Hezbollah fighters backed by Russian planes captured a string of villages over the weekend along the city’s southern outskirts, the government’s biggest advance since the Russian intervention.
On Wednesday, fighting continued as the regime tried to push westward toward a highway leading to the coast and south to the capital, Damascus. The Russian Ministry of Defense said its warplanes had flown 46 combat sorties in the previous 24 hours, attacking 83 ground targets.
The air campaign is also not the first time Moscow has come to Mr. Assad’s rescue. In September 2013, the Obama administration set aside a push toward military action against Mr. Assad after Russia declared support for a plan to allow him to hand his chemical weapons to the international community.
Mr. Assad told the Russian president that terrorism is impeding the path to a political solution, SANA reported, and said the military operation by the two countries must be followed by political steps.
“Everyone understands that any military action suggests further political steps,” the Syrian president said. “And of course, the common goal for us all should be what the Syrian people want to see for the future of their country.”
Mr. Putin said Russia was willing “not only to take the path of military action in the fight against terrorism, but to take the path of a political solution” to end the conflict.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry would met on Friday in Vienna to discuss Syria, together with top diplomats from Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
The Kremlin has portrayed its military support for Mr. Assad as a bid to defeat extremists abroad before they return to Russia. The Russian government says thousands of citizens of the former Soviet Union have made their way to Syria, where they have received indoctrination and training from Islamic State.
“It worries us as well—Russia, I mean—that unfortunately a minimum of around 4,000 people from the republics of the former Soviet Union have taken up arms against the government forces and are fighting on the territory of Syria,” Mr. Putin added.
While Russia has said it is targeting Islamic State militants, most of its airstrikes have been on mainstream rebels, some of which have been trained and equipped by Washington.
Russia’s military campaign in Syria has been carried out primarily by fighter aircraft that have carried out intensive bombing runs in support of an offensive by Mr. Assad’s forces. Mr. Putin has publicly ruled out the deployment of ground troops.
The Russian military operates drones and aircraft from a Syrian air base that has been reinforced with armored troop carriers and tanks. Asiyat Turuchiyeva, a representative of the Russian embassy in Damascus, denied reports that Russian forces had sustained casualties in recent days.
Russian strikes as well as the regime’s offensives across central and northern Syria have taken a large humanitarian toll, Syrian activists say. At least 127 civilians, including 36 children and 34 women, have been killed by Russian airstrikes, according to the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Sitting opposite Mr. Assad in the Kremlin in a video released Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Syrian government had “achieved significantly positive results” in its fight against an array of opposition forces, and was prepared to help lead the country to a political solution to end the war.The official Syrian Arab News Agency confirmed that Mr. Assad met with Mr. Putin on Tuesday at the Russian leader’s invitation, saying the two leaders had discussed further joint operations against terrorist groups in Syria, using the Syrian government’s term for its opponents.Russia began an aerial-bombardment campaign in support of Mr. Assad’s forces in late September, a move that is frustrating Washington and its allies and complicating a U.S.-led coalition effort to rout Islamic State.
Mr. Putin’s invitation gives the Syrian leader a strong show of public support and underlines Moscow’s commitment in the face of the West’s criticism. With its military intervention, the Kremlin positioned itself as the key player in resolving the four-year-old conflict—and helped Mr. Assad avert outright defeat on the battlefield.
In the months before the bombing campaign, Syrian government forces had been losing ground through defections and combat losses; now, the government in Damascus is confident enough to press an offensive to regain territory once considered out of Mr. Assad’s control.
The regime began a ground offensive around the city of Aleppo on Friday. Syrian, Iranian and Hezbollah fighters backed by Russian planes captured a string of villages over the weekend along the city’s southern outskirts, the government’s biggest advance since the Russian intervention.
On Wednesday, fighting continued as the regime tried to push westward toward a highway leading to the coast and south to the capital, Damascus. The Russian Ministry of Defense said its warplanes had flown 46 combat sorties in the previous 24 hours, attacking 83 ground targets.
The air campaign is also not the first time Moscow has come to Mr. Assad’s rescue. In September 2013, the Obama administration set aside a push toward military action against Mr. Assad after Russia declared support for a plan to allow him to hand his chemical weapons to the international community.
Mr. Assad told the Russian president that terrorism is impeding the path to a political solution, SANA reported, and said the military operation by the two countries must be followed by political steps.
“Everyone understands that any military action suggests further political steps,” the Syrian president said. “And of course, the common goal for us all should be what the Syrian people want to see for the future of their country.”
Mr. Putin said Russia was willing “not only to take the path of military action in the fight against terrorism, but to take the path of a political solution” to end the conflict.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry would met on Friday in Vienna to discuss Syria, together with top diplomats from Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
The Kremlin has portrayed its military support for Mr. Assad as a bid to defeat extremists abroad before they return to Russia. The Russian government says thousands of citizens of the former Soviet Union have made their way to Syria, where they have received indoctrination and training from Islamic State.
“It worries us as well—Russia, I mean—that unfortunately a minimum of around 4,000 people from the republics of the former Soviet Union have taken up arms against the government forces and are fighting on the territory of Syria,” Mr. Putin added.
While Russia has said it is targeting Islamic State militants, most of its airstrikes have been on mainstream rebels, some of which have been trained and equipped by Washington.
Russia’s military campaign in Syria has been carried out primarily by fighter aircraft that have carried out intensive bombing runs in support of an offensive by Mr. Assad’s forces. Mr. Putin has publicly ruled out the deployment of ground troops.
The Russian military operates drones and aircraft from a Syrian air base that has been reinforced with armored troop carriers and tanks. Asiyat Turuchiyeva, a representative of the Russian embassy in Damascus, denied reports that Russian forces had sustained casualties in recent days.
Russian strikes as well as the regime’s offensives across central and northern Syria have taken a large humanitarian toll, Syrian activists say. At least 127 civilians, including 36 children and 34 women, have been killed by Russian airstrikes, according to the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
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