Russia wants Iran, Hezbollah out of Syria

PULLOUT OF FOREIGN TROOPS WILL BE PART OF SETTLEMENT OF LONG CIVIL WAR — PUTIN

Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Syrian President Bashar Al Assad that Russia expects all “foreign armed forces”, including Iran and Hezbollah, to leave Syria.

The meeting between the two presidents, which was held in Sochi on Thursday, seemed to be setting the stage for a new phase in Syria’s seven-year-old civil war.

A Kremlin official confirmed on Friday that Putin’s statement about the need for the foreign troops’ pullout from Syria refers to Iran and Hezbollah among others.

Putin said such a withdrawal would be part of a settlement of the country’s long civil war.

Alexander Lavrentyev, Putin’s envoy for Syria, said that Putin’s statement was aimed at the US and Turkey along with Iran and Hezbollah.

Lavrentyev’s statement marked a rare moment when Moscow spoke about the need for Iran to eventually pull its forces out of Syria.

Russia and Iran have pooled efforts to back Al Assad. Moscow has argued its troops have deployed to Syria on its government’s invitation, while

the military presence of the US and others has been illegal.

Putin had said earlier on Thursday after meeting with Al Assad that “we start off from the tangible victories and the success of the Syrian army in the fight against terrorism and the launch of an active phase of a political process, which will be followed by the start of the pullout of foreign armed forces from Syrian territory”.

The Trump administration will withdraw assistance from northwest Syria dominated by Islamist factions and focus recovery efforts on areas where US-led forces have retaken territory from Daesh in the northeast, US officials with knowledge of the decision said on Friday.

CBS, which first reported the story, said tens of millions of dollars will be cut from previous US-backed efforts in the northwest, including projects for “countering violent extremism, supporting independent society and independent media, strengthening education, and advocating for community policing.” US officials told Reuters that humanitarian assistance would not be affected in the northwest around Idlib province, which is the largest chunk of Syrian territory held by insurgent factions, including Al Qaida’s former affiliate in the Syrian war.

“US assistance for programmes in northwest Syria are being freed up to provide potential increased support for priorities in northeast Syria,” a State Department official told Reuters.

‘Leaving a vacuum’

A second official said the administration believed it wanted to move the assistance to areas where the US had more control.

President Donald Trump in March froze more than $200 million (Dh734.5 million) in funds for recovery efforts in Syria while his administration reassesses Washington’s role in the Syrian conflict. The review is still under way, one US official said.

Trump said in March that it was time for the United States to leave Syria, following allied victories against Islamic State militants. About 2,000 US troops are deployed in Syria.

In April, however, Trump deepened US involvement by ordering missile strikes against Syria in response to a poison gas attack that killed dozens of people.

A third US official said the cuts in the northwest would take place over a period of months.

“The danger is a repeat of what the president criticised about Iraq — leaving a vacuum where the violence can get worse and extremists can exploit that,” the official added.

The Pentagon has estimated that Daesh has lost about 98 per cent of the territory it held in Iraq and Syria. US military officials have warned that the militants could regain the freed areas quickly unless they are stabilised.