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Assad
to Putin at Moscow talks: Terrorists would seize larger areas if
Russia did not act
RT,
21
October, 2015
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar Assad held talks in Moscow on Tuesday. The Syrian leader said Russia’s actions have prevented the terrorists from seizing larger areas in his country.
“Yesterday
evening Syrian President Bashar Assad arrived in Moscow for a working
visit,” Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday. “President
[Putin] was informed in detail by his Syrian counterpart about the
current state of affairs in Syria and the long-range plan.”
The
two leaders conducted lengthy negotiations, which then continued in
the presence of Russia’s top policymakers.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin (3R) and President of Syria Bashar Assad
(2L) at a meeting at the Kremlin. From right: Defense Minister Sergey
Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. © Alexei Druzhinin / RIA
Novosti
Vladimir
Putin said that the Syrian people have been confronting
terrorists “practically
single-handedly” for
years, withstanding considerable casualties. Lately, they have
achieved serious and positive results in this fight, he added.
The terrorists’ attempts to destabilize the situation in the Middle East arouse deep concern in Russia because “unfortunately, people from the former Soviet republics, at least 4,000 of them, are fighting against the Syrian army,” the Russian leader said. “Naturally, we cannot allow them to appear on Russian territory with all the combat experience and ideological brainwashing they have gone through.”
Syria
is a country friendly to Russia, and Moscow is ready not only to
assist with fighting terrorism, but also in reaching a peaceful
political settlement to the Syrian conflict in cooperation with other
global and regional powers, Putin said.
“The
decisive word, without any doubt, must belong solely to the Syrian
people,” Vladimir
Putin stressed.
Bashar
Assad thanked Russia for the support provided to Syria in fighting
for its sovereignty and unity.
“Terrorists
would have occupied far greater territories if it were not for
Russia’s military assistance,”President
Assad said, adding that political steps are due to follow military
action. “The
only aim for all of us should be what the Syrian people want as a
future for their country.”
Once
the terrorists are defeated, it will take a united effort to rebuild
the country economically and politically and to ensure peaceful
coexistence for all, Assad concluded.
Assad’s
visit to Moscow is an indication of the Syrian leader becoming more
‘confident’ on the international arena, says journalist and
broadcaster Neil Clark.
“I think [Assad’s visit] is significant because he hasn’t left his country for four years of this terrible war, since this Western proxy war started. And so I think it means he is confident that he can leave the country,” Clark told RT.
“We are seeing Russia take the role of leadership on the international stage,” geopolitical analyst Patrick Henningsen told RT, stressing that western efforts to defeat Islamic State have been“dragging on with no conclusive results.”
Russia
has “basically gatecrashed an underground party that has been
going on for four years,”Henningsen said. “Countries like
the US, Turkey, Jordan and NATO allies like the UK and France have
been able to operate in the shadows. Russia has basically barged in,
switched on the lights and said the party’s over.
“They are very upset in Washington and are still throwing temper tantrums, saying Russia has made a horrible move,” Henningsen said, adding that the US would like very much to see Russia in another Afghanistan.
Henningsen
said that if the West was really serious about dealing with the
terrorist threat, they would have worked with the Assad government
because that is the ground force and they have the most ground
intelligence.
“This
is what Russia is doing. It has just gone in and has worked with the
key player they needed to work with.”
Henningsen
added that with the 22,000 bombs that were dropped on Islamic State
by the western anti-ISIS alliance in the last 13 months, Islamic
State should have disappeared already.
Middle
East expert Willy Van Damme said the US is “in
a quagmire and their friends, the whole Western-Turkey-Saudi alliance
is in a complete mess and they are arguing amongst themselves, they
don’t trust each other and everyone has their own idea.
He
added: “Some want to divide up Syria, others want to conquer
it like the French, Turkey wants part of the north of Syria to
incorporated in a sort of Ottoman Empire with “Sultan” [Recep
Tayyip] Erdogan.”
Daniele
Ganser, a peace researcher and expert on NATO, said the Pentagon's
strategy of fighting against ISIS and simultaneously supporting
militants fighting against Assad isn’t working.
“The
Pentagon always says, ‘We did not want to drop any weapons to
ISIS,’ and they always say they do not support the radical enemies
of Assad – ‘We support the moderate enemies of Assad,’”Genser
said. “This
has always been a very difficult distinction to, make and we have
people in Iraq who came forward many years ago and said, ‘There are
weapons being dropped by the British and the US’ and these went
into the hands of ISIS.”
The
US “always made this very strange mix of communications by
saying, ‘Yes, we want to topple Assad,’ and, ‘We also want to
fight IS,’” he said. “This was always bewildering to
any peace researcher or historian who looked into the situation, and
I do not think they had a clear strategy in Syria."
US, Turkey angered by Assad’s ‘red carpet’ visit to Moscow
RT,
22
October, 2015
The
US and Turkey, two of the Syrian President Bashar Assad’s key
opponents, have not cheered his visit to Moscow, with the White House
slamming it as a “red carpet welcome.” Russian and Syrian leaders
were meeting for crisis consultations and planning.
The
White House criticized the way the Syrian leader was received, saying
it resembled a “red carpet welcome.” In that same statement, the
US also accused Assad of using chemical weapons against his own
people and questioned Russia’s interests in a political transition
of power in Syria.
“We
view the red carpet welcome for Assad, who has used chemical weapons
against his own people, at odds with the stated goal by the Russians
for a political transition in Syria,” White House spokesman Eric
Schultz said.
Assad
has stressed on multiple occasions in the past that Western claims
that his government had used chemical weapons against the Syrian
population are “an insult to common sense” and “nonsense.”
The
State Department added that it was not shocked by Assad’s visit to
Moscow considering the relationship between the two countries. “It’s
not surprising that Bashar Assad would travel to Moscow, given the
relationship that Syria has with Russia, and given the recent
military activities by Russia in Syria on behalf of Bashar al-Assad,”
State Department spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing.
In
addition, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu offered sarcastic
comments on the topic, stating Assad should have “stayed in Moscow”
in order to kick start the transition process.
RT
#ISIS camp in Istanbul trained children as terrorists http://on.rt.com/6u9k
“If
only he could stay in Moscow longer, to give the people of Syria some
relief; in fact he should stay there so the transition can begin,”
Davutoglu told reporters.
Davutoglu
once again reiterated that resolving the crisis in Syria should be
about Assad’s departure and not about a transition with him
remaining in power.
Both
the US and Turkey are meeting Russia for negotiations on Friday,
along with Saudi Arabia. The foreign ministers of all four countries
have also agreed to meet for talks on Syria in Vienna.
Despite
the negative rhetoric, these are concrete steps being taken by key
players to resolve the crisis in Syria, perhaps signaling a positive
shift, RT’s Egor Piskunov said.
“It
is quite rare that these key players in the Syrian crisis come
together, especially Saudi Arabia, which has been on the side of the
rebels fighting against Assad all along, and now they may be talking
about a transition,” Piskunov said in a news report. “If we are
looking at the creation of a new diplomatic quartet here on Syria,
perhaps eventually the Syrian government even may be included into a
political resolution of this crisis.”
Russian
President Vladimir Putin and his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad held
talks in Moscow on Tuesday.
“Yesterday
evening Syrian President Bashar Assad arrived in Moscow for a working
visit,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
“President [Putin] was informed in detail by his Syrian counterpart
about the current state of affairs in Syria and the long-range plan.”
Syria
is a country friendly to Russia, and Moscow is ready not only to
assist with fighting terrorism, but also in reaching a peaceful
political settlement to the Syrian conflict in cooperation with other
global and regional powers, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
“The
decisive word, without any doubt, must belong solely to the Syrian
people,” Putin stressed.
The
Russian President and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
talked about Assad’s trip following the visit.
“The
situation in Syria was discussed,” Peskov said. “In this context,
the leader of Russia informed his Turkish counterpart about the
results of Syrian President al-Assad’s visit to Moscow.”
The
two leaders conducted lengthy negotiations, which then continued in
the presence of Russia’s top policymakers.
Some
experts have been suggesting that the West needs to reconsider its
position on Assad if it wants to solve the crisis in Syria. Middle
East journalist Karin Leukefeld told RT that Assad’s visit to
Moscow needs to be viewed as the Syrian leader showing his
willingness to negotiate.
“He
wants to signal that he is ready to go outside his country to talk
and to find a solution for his country and for the Syrian people. I
think it is something the West should consider … The West needs to
find a face-saving way to change their political line and to change
their attitude towards Syria and to the Syrian president,”
Leukefeld said.
The western view. Channel 4 news
The western view. Channel 4 news
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