Putin has already told Assad to step down

VLADIMIR PUTIN dispatched an envoy to Syria to tell Bashar al-Assad to step down, according to Western officials.

The Russian president’s chosen messenger was General Igor Sergun, the director of GRU military intelligence. Western officials told the

that Gen Sergun conveyed this demand to Mr Assad in Damascus last year. A few weeks after their meeting, Gen Sergun died on Jan 3, aged 58. The circumstances of his death are unclear.

During the meeting, Mr Assad adamantly rejected any suggestion that he step down.

But Western governments are encouraged by their belief that Gen Sergun told him to go. They believe that Mr Assad’s departure is the essential condition for ending Syria’s civil war.

America and its allies are prepared to accept Mr Assad staying in office for a transitional period only.

Russia intervened in Syria last September to rescue Mr Assad’s regime. But the Kremlin has made clear that its forces are supporting the government of Syria, not a particular leader.

Since the intervention began, Western officials suspect that Russia may have discovered that Mr Assad’s position is more precarious – and the regime more brutal and incompetent – than the Kremlin had thought.

“Mr Putin has taken a look under the bonnet of the Syrian regime and found a lot more problems than he was bargaining for,” a senior European intelligence official told the newspaper.