You have saved Syria, Assad tells Putin on trip to Russia
Moscow pushes for peace — with or without despot of Damascus
SYRIAN dictator Bashar al-Assad has thanked Vladimir Putin for “saving” his country, in a surprise meeting between the pair in Russia.
Mr Assad met the Russian president on a rare trip abroad to the Black Sea resort of Sochi yesterday, according to the Kremlin.
His regime has been propped up by Mr Putin and two years of Russian military involvement in Syria’s sevenyear civil war have turned the tide in Assad’s favour.
Russian state television today broadcast segments from a reported fourhour meeting in which the pair discussed how to find a political solution to end the conflict.
Mr Assad told Mr Putin and his top military commanders: “On behalf of the entire Syrian people, I express my gratitude for what you have done. We will not forget it.”
He also told the Russian president through an interpreter: “At this stage, especially after we achieved victory over terrorists, it is in our interests to move for ward with the p o l i t i c a l p ro c e s s . We count on the support of Russia to ensure the noninterference of outside players in the political process.”
Mr Putin is due to meet the leaders of Iran and Turkey tomorrow and said he will speak to US president Donald Trump and the Emir of Qatar as part of his attempts to engineer a VLADIMIR PUTIN’S meeting with Bashar al-Assad in Sochi was less a celebration of triumph in Syria’s war than a serious bid to relaunch peace talks — and very much on Russia’s terms.
This was the first time the Syrian leader had been out of his country since a fleeting visit to Moscow in 2015. This time the Russian president was giving instructions on how he wants negotiations to unfold, led by Russia and its key allies Turkey and Iran, with whom he is holding a summit tomorrow.
Putin told Assad that though victory isn’t complete “this military operation is wrapping up” and the important step now “is to move on the political questions”. He noted with satisfaction Assad’s readiness “to work with all those who wanted peace and a solution.”
This seems a thinly veiled threat. Russia will go ahead with its own peace plans with or without Assad in charge peace deal. The Russian president said: “We still have a long way to go before we achieve a complete victory over terrorists.
“But as far as our joint work in fighting terrorism on the territory of Syria is concerned, this military operation is indeed wrapping up.”
Mr Putin and Mr Assad last met in Moscow in October 2015, a few weeks after Russia launched its military operation in Syria.
More than 400,000 people are believed to have been killed in the Syrian war, which began in 2011, according to UN reports. Millions have been displaced.
Mr Assad’s opponents, and Western governments, have accused Russia of killing significant numbers of Syrian civilians with its air strikes, allegations Moscow denies. The conflict entered a new phase at the weekend when government forces and their allies c aptured Albu Kamal, the last significant Syrian town being held by Islamic State. in Damascus. Putin has said he will discuss his road map with Donald Trump and the leadership in Qatar by phone this week. It means the group led by Russia sees itself as the main forum for peace talks, rather than the UN-led one based in Geneva. There the alliance of Syrian opposition groups, the Higher Negotiating Council (HNC), is in disarray after key resignations.
Saudi Arabia has called a meeting this week to reboot the HNC and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman wants tougher measures against Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese Shia militia. Hezbollah has led the fight for Assad in key battles such as the siege of Aleppo, but at great cost, with some 4,000 killed or badly hurt. It is short of funds and is not the all-conquering force of the more lurid Saudi and Israeli propaganda.
After six and a half years of war, at least 465,000 killed and 12 million displaced, Putin is right to say now is the time to push for peace in Syria. But the problems caused by the conflict there and in Iraq will be with us for generations.