Assad thanks Putin for ‘saving’ his country
Russian and Syrian leaders discuss political settlement ahead of high-level talks about ending the civil war
SYRIA’S Bashar al-assad has thanked Vladimir Putin and the Russian military for helping to save his country as the Russian president prepared to host the leaders of Iran and Turkey for highlevel talks about ending the Syrian war.
Mr Assad made a secret visit to Sochi on Monday, only his second trip outside of Syria since 2011, and met Mr Putin for three hours to discuss a potential political settlement for Syria’s future.
The two presidents struck a triumphant note as they concluded that the Syrian regime in Damascus was moving “towards the final and inevitable defeat” of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) and Syrian rebel groups.
“I have conveyed to [Mr Putin], and on his behalf to the Russian people, our gratitude for Russia’s efforts to save our country,” said Mr Assad as he met Russian generals,
“In the name of the Syrian people, I greet you and thank you all, every Russian officer, fighter and pilot that took part in this war.”
Mr Putin ordered Russian forces to intervene in Syria on Mr Assad’s behalf in late 2015. Over the course of two years of fighting, Russian forces and their Iranian allies have swung the tide of war decisively in Mr Assad’s favour.
With Isil almost entirely routed and with other Syrian rebel groups weakened and in disarray, Mr Assad and Mr Putin now feel confident enough to look beyond the combat stage and towards a future political agreement.
“The main subject on the agenda is a peaceful and lasting political settlement in Syria after the routing of the terrorists,” Mr Putin said.
Mr Assad said he was prepared to enter into serious peace talks. “We do not want to look back. We will accept and talk with anyone who is really interested in a political settlement.”
The Kremlin said the two men had worked to “prepare the groundwork for possible understandings” that might be reached during today’s summit between Mr Putin, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.
Iran and Russia have both supported the Assad regime throughout the war while Turkey has backed the opposition. The three countries have acted as guarantors of local deals in Syria and Mr Putin hopes they will be able to agree on a comprehensive pact to end the fighting.
Mr Putin has placed himself centrestage in talks over Syria’s future. As well as hosting the Turkish and Iranian leaders, he spoke to Donald Trump by phone for over an hour last night, briefing him on the talks with Mr Assad.
Meanwhile, the Syrian opposition is due to meet today in Riyadh to try to agree a common position ahead of Unbrokered talks in Switzerland next week.
The Geneva talks have collapsed several times in the past and most observers agree it is more likely that the major decisions will be made by Russia, Iran and Turkey.
The three countries have previously agreed to a series of “de-escalation zones” in Syria where fighting is supposed to be limited. In reality, both Russian and Syrian warplanes have continued bombing in the zones, especially in rebel-held areas in Idlib and Aleppo provinces.
Both Iran’s president and the leader of Hizbollah, the Lebanese militant group, which has fought alongside the Syrian regime, declared victory over Isil this week after pro-regime forces seized control of Albu Kamal.