Russian President Vladimir Putin has met Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad ahead of a summit with Turkish and Iranian counterparts on Wednesday.
Assad arrived in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday, receiving a hug from Putin before template statements were issued.
Syria is striving in the fight against terrorists….The Syrian people are going through very difficult trials and are gradually approaching the final, unavoidable rout of terrorists.
Based on our meeting today, I will hold consultations with the leaders of those countries….Today, a conversation with Emir of Qatar is already planned and, tomorrow, with president of the United States of America Donald Trump and then with leaders of the countries of the region.
Huge successes have been achieved, both on the battlefield (and) on the political level. Many areas in Syria have been liberated from terrorists, and civilians who were forced to leave those areas have been able to return.
We must admit that the operation made it possible to advance the process of political settlement in Syria.
Putin will receive Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan today.
Uncertainty Over Assad’s Future
After its military intervention propping up the Assad regime in September 2015, Russia has been presenting itself as the driving force for a political resolution of Syria’s 80-month conflict. Moscow sidelined the US in 2016 after more than three years of pulling Washington away from Assad’s removal, and then focused on discussions with Iran — the other essential backer of the regime — and Turkey, which had been the primary backer of the Syrian opposition and rebels.
Since January, the three countries have held seven sets of talks in the Kazakh capital Astana, culminating in the declaration of “de-escalation zones” across Syria. Russia is also pursing a process including factions it prefers as well as the regime and the main Syrian opposition.
See Syria Daily, Nov 21: Head of Main Opposition Committee Resigns
Moscow’s political strategy, combined with changes on the battlefield, has led to a de facto partition of Syria while the Islamic State has been removed from its major positions. The Assad regime and its allies hold most of the cities, but the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have much of the north and northeast, including the city of Raqqa, and the opposition controls almost all of Idlib Province in the northwest, parts of the south, and some Damascus suburbs. Turkish-supported rebels, enabled by Ankara’s military intervention in August 2016, have most of northern Aleppo Province in northern Syria.
There has been some tension between Russia and Iran over the partition and Assad’s future. Tehran has made Assad’s departure a “red line” and is backing the regime’s goal of retaking much of Kurdish territory and Idlib Province. Russia, while continuing to enable pro-Assad forces in operations such as attacks on the Damascus suburbs, has been more reticent over the next steps.
Putin made no direct statement about Assad’s future on Tuesday.
