“Russia, by the use of armed force, has significantly, fundamentally improved its political and diplomatic position”, Norbert Roettgen, who heads the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee, told a panel on Sunday at the Munich Security Conference. Russia’s intervention with a massive bombing campaign in Syria has given the Kremlin an upper hand in bolstering Mr. Assad.
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Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad are backed by two nations, Russian Federation and Iran, and many Shiite militias from across the region who are organized by Iran.
Speaking after Medvedev, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry fired back that Europe and the United States would continue to “stand up to Russia’s repeated aggression” and noted that in addition to a joint focus on Ukraine, Washington plans to quadruple spending to help European security.
The war in Syria has killed at least 250,000 people as Assad, the rebels seeking to oust him, and the foreign backers of the rival sides have failed to agree on ways to end the conflict, which created a breeding ground for radical Islamists.
A day after confirming that it has sent aircraft to the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, which is used by North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces to strike IS targets in both Syria and Iraq, Saudi Arabia on Sunday said any move to deploy Saudi special forces into Syria would depend on a decision by the US-led coalition.
Pollsters say people are more preoccupied with Russia’s economic crisis, which has prompted the steepest fall in real incomes since President Vladimir Putin came to power 15 years ago.
The conflict in Ukraine needs to be regulated by the full implementation of the Minsk agreements, the prime minister said, RIA Novosti reported.
In a description of the phone call, the White House said Obama stressed “the importance of rapidly implementing humanitarian access to besieged areas of Syria and initiating a nationwide cessation of hostilities”.
“If he stepped down now, Syria would be destroyed as a country”.
Gatilov said Russian Federation would not stop its bombing campaign in Syria despite the negotiated truce between rebel forces and the Syrian Army.
He also said Russian warnings of a new “world war” if states such as Saudi Arabia intervened on the ground were “gross exaggeration”.
The situation in Syria has been complicated by the involvement of Kurdish-backed combatants in the area north of Aleppo near the Turkish border, which has drawn a swift military response from artillery in Turkey.
He urged the Syrian regime to “immediately allow the entry of humanitarian assistance to all parts of Syria, end military attacks on innocent civilians…”
“Turkey has responded in this manner in the past”, said Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan. “The YPG crossing west of the Euphrates is Turkey’s red line”.
The Islamic State, a vicious al-Qaeda spinoff, and Jabhat al Nusrah, al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria that works with many Sunni Arab opposition groups in Syria, have attracted foreign fighters from across the Arab world and Europe. Turkey, which is also in the alliance, considers the group an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which has waged a decadeslong insurgency against Ankara.
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– With assistance from Ian Wishart and Toluse Olorunnipa.
