Assad and Putin Meet
The presidents of Russia and Syria met with each other and expressed support for finding a political solution to the Syrian crisis. The presidents of Iran and Turkey are scheduled to meet with Russia’s president tomorrow.
Russian state sources reported on Tuesday morning, November 30 (November 21), that Vladimir Putin and Bashar Assad, the presidents of Russia and Syria, met with each other in the city of Sochi on the shore of the Black Sea. This meeting took place yesterday evening, but the Russian president’s office released the report on Tuesday morning.
This meeting is being reported at a time when news sources from Syria, Russia, and Iran have announced the defeat of ISIS in Syria.
Mr. Putin is scheduled to meet on Wednesday with Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hassan Rouhani, the presidents of Turkey and Iran respectively. Along with Russia, these two countries have played a role in the recent developments in Syria.
According to Russian television, Vladimir Putin said in his meeting with Syria’s president that “we still have a long way to go to achieve complete victory over terrorism, but as far as our joint work in fighting terrorism in Syria is concerned, military operations are actually coming to an end.”
Russia’s president said regarding the process of future developments, addressing Bashar Assad: “Currently, what matters is attention to political issues, and I am pleased to witness that you are prepared to cooperate with everyone who is seeking a peaceful solution.”
Vladimir Putin said he wished to discuss with Assad the principles of launching a political process and “the formation of a congress of Syrian people, and of course with your support.” He expressed a desire to be informed of Syria’s president’s assessment of his country’s situation and the outlook for future developments and his view on the political solution. According to this report, Vladimir Putin said: “In our view, the political process for resolving Syria’s problems should ultimately take place under the supervision and guidance of the United Nations.”
United Nations oversight can provide the framework for the participation and negotiation of major powers regarding Syria’s future.
According to the same report, Syria’s president said in his meeting with Putin that “at this stage, especially after achieving victory against terrorists, it is in our interest to launch the political process.” He added that “in our opinion, the current situation, both in the operational arena and on the political front, gives us the opportunity to be hopeful about progress in the political process, and of course we are relying on Russia’s support to ensure that foreign actors do not interfere in this process.”
According to the Interfax news agency, in the meeting of the presidents of Syria and Russia, a group of Russian military commanders were also present, and Bashar Assad, addressing them, said: “On behalf of all the Syrian people, I express my gratitude for what you have done. We will never forget your help.”
The last meeting between the presidents of Syria and Syria took place in late October 2015, a few weeks after the start of Russia’s military operations in support of Syrian government forces. Russia’s military intervention enabled government forces and their allies, who had been severely weakened, to achieve military successes on the battlefield.
According to opponents of the Syrian government and Western sources, Russian military operations in Syria were conducted without regard to civilian safety and resulted in heavy civilian casualties. Syrian and Russian officials, in turn, attributed civilian casualties to anti-government forces.
Concurrently with Syria’s president’s trip to Sochi, news media in Iran reported the complete defeat of ISIS in Syria and offered their interpretation of it. Ali Larijani, the speaker of parliament, announcing the defeat of “terrorism in Iraq and Syria,” said that “the measures taken in recent years with Iran as the center in the fight against terrorism dealt a heavy blow to the body of terrorists, and it can be said that terrorists are taking their last breaths in Iraq and Syria.”
On the eve of Hassan Rouhani’s meeting with the presidents of Russia and Turkey, Lieutenant General Mohammad Baqeri, the commander-in-chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic, traveled to Sochi. In Syria’s civil war, Iran, while providing broad political and financial support to Bashar Assad’s government, has also sent military forces to that country, although it is said that Iranian military personnel were present as advisors in Syria’s war. Furthermore, members of the Lebanese Hezbollah group fought alongside Syrian government forces.
Source: BBC
