Putin meets Al Assad, seeks ‘political process’

Moscow suggests foreign forces will withdraw from Syria but doesn’t specify which ones

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a rare meeting with Bashar Al Assad on Thursday and said the situation in Syria is now favourable for the beginning of a “political process”, which would lead to the withdrawal of foreign forces.

“After the military success [of the Syrian regime in recent A Syria war monitor said 11 people were killed and dozens wounded and missing in blasts from explosions at a weapons warehouse inside an air base in Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the dead included Syrian regime troops and allied militiamen. Regime TV also reported the explosions at Hama air base in central Syria, but did not give a reason or mention casualties.

The Observatory reported at least five successive explosions and said it was not clear whether they were a result of attacks that targeted the air base, or a result of a technical error or overheating. months], supplementary conditions have been created, which favour the start of a political process on a major scale,” Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin following the meeting in the southern Russian city of Sochi.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “there were detailed discussions” between the two leaders, who last met in December at a Russian military air base in Syria’s coastal province of Latakia.

“With the start of the political process in its most active phase, foreign armed forces will withdraw from Syrian territory,” Putin said, without specifying which foreign forces.

Crucial ally

Russia has been involved in Syria’s civil war since September 2015. Its military support not only ensured the survival of Al Assad’s regime, it changed the course of the war.

According to a Kremlin statement, Al Assad said “stability is improving” in Syria, “opening the door to the political process we started some time ago”.

The visit comes on the eve of a meeting in Sochi between Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the first faceto-face talk of the year between the veteran leaders.

Al Assad’s future has been a key sticking point in years of failed peace efforts. The opposition and its Western backers have demanded he step aside as part of a transition, something the regime has adamantly rejected.