On Tuesday, government troops broke a siege imposed by the Islamic State group on a northern military air base since 2013, marking the first major achievement by Assad’s forces since Russian Federation began its airstrikes.
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Putin’s message to the U.S.is clear: We are again a Middle East power to be reckoned with and we’re not going away.
But the advance came as at least 22 people were killed in one of the bloodiest mortar attacks on the regime’s coastal bastion of Latakia in the four-year conflict. “And Russia has already submitted its suggestions on this account – this was done during the Vienna meeting of the Syrian Support Group”, the Russian leader said.
“Working together in Syria allows us to build a block to be able to cope”. While the USA, the United Kingdom and France have been outwardly resolute, Germany and longtime rebel supporter Turkey have recently said they are open to keeping Assad in place in a transitionary mode, though it’s unclear what this means exactly.
Experts said the base could be used by Russian planes in their air war against rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, aiding their efforts to retake the Syrian city of Aleppo.
These assertions all overlook a key fact though: Putin is well on the way to achieving the majority of his objectives in the Levant. And those who appear caught between the two poles, a group dominated by the USA and UK.
Vienna is hosting a new ministerial meeting about the Syrian crisis on Saturday, to be attended by Russian Federation, the U.S. and other global powers; it comes after the failure of the meeting held on 30 October to determine the fate of the Syrian president.
But Kerry, in an impassioned speech, also countered criticism that the United States is more interested in defeating the militants than in helping Syrians fight the civil war against President Bashar Assad.
A draft Russian settlement leaked this week says the U.N. Security Council would endorse the fight against the Islamic State, but that nations must still “agree on the additional list of terrorist groups”.
“We need to compile a single list of extremist organizations”.
Any cease-fire would include an exemption for bombing raids against the Islamic State and likely Jabhat al-Nusra, a complication in the case of the latter because its forces in northwest Syria are co-mingled with other opposition groups. The administration, as it has with many other locally supported rebel groups, does not consider it part of the “moderate” opposition eligible to participate in transition plans.
Russia, which with Iran has been Assad’s top ally during Syria’s almost five-year conflict, has denied any document is being prepared before the peace talks in Vienna this week. While the United States has rarely targeted that part of the country, Russian airstrikes have centered on the area. It is unclear how far Tehran, which has pumped billions of dollars into supporting Assad, would compromise following its nuclear deal with the West. In Vienna, this question about whether the priority should be the fate of Assad or the broader challenges to the notion of Syria is important, as it provides the potential basis for the eventual ideological marginalization and isolation of ISIS, and the reintegration of the country.
Russia’s plan, which was seen by AP and Reuters, called for drafting a new Syrian constitution that would be voted on and followed by an early presidential election.
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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry defended diplomatic efforts to end the war in Syria on Thursday and said all participants in talks in Vienna at the weekend had a responsibility not to dig in their heels.
