Vladimir Putin has declared that the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Russia’s close ally in Syria, does not represent a defeat for Moscow. During his annual press conference, the Russian president stressed that the main goal of the Russian military intervention in Syria, which began in 2015, was to prevent the formation of a “terrorist enclave” similar to the one in Afghanistan.
“There is an attempt to paint what happened in Syria as a defeat for Russia. I assure you that this is not the case,” Putin said. He further stated: “We intervened in Syria ten years ago to prevent a terrorist hotbed from emerging in that country. Overall, we have achieved our objective.”
Putin, who said he had not yet met the former Syrian president Assad, who took refuge in Moscow, adding however that “he will”, explained that he does not yet know whether Russia will maintain its military bases in Syria, because this will depend on relations with the new authorities. “I don’t know – Putin replied to a question about it – We have to think about it, because we have to see how our relations will develop with those political forces that now control and will control the situation in this country in the future. Our interests must coincide”.
Putin added that Moscow maintains relations “with all groups that control the situation there and with all countries in the region.” “The vast majority of them – he added – tell us that they would be interested in our military bases remaining in Syria”. The Russian president said Moscow had proposed for now to use the Khmeimim air base to channel humanitarian aid to Syria “and this has been accepted”. The same, he added, could be done with the Tartus naval base.
The Russian president then reported that Russia is evacuating around 4,000 Iranian fighters from Syria “at their request”, stressing that “Russia hopes there will be peace and tranquility in Syria, and maintains relations with all parties” having “in line achieved its objectives in Syria”.
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