MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a ceremony in Moscow on Thursday to present awards to service personnel who distinguished themselves during their missions in Syria.
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“Moreover, bearing in mind our support and the strengthening of the Syrian army, I am sure we will see new successes of patriotic forces in fighting terrorism in the near future”, he said. Extremist factions – such as the Islamic State group or the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front – are not part of the truce.
Speaking on the sidelines of a defence ministry briefing on the Syria ceasefire on Friday, spokesman Igor Konashenkov called reports that Russian Federation had mounted a ground operation in Syria “total stupidity”.
There would be other costs, he said, in order to replace ammunition and weapons as well as to make repairs.
President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman says Moscow is satisfied with the joint work with Washington on coordinating Syria peace efforts. But he made clear Russian Federation could easily scale up its forces again.
Noting a “fairly notable reduction” in Russian attacks on Syrian opposition groups thanks to the cease-fire, Warren said given the current posture of Russian military, Bashar al-Assad regime could still continue to grab additional territory with Russian air support.
Russian airmen coming home from Syria this week were greeted as victorious heroes, with public rhetoric suggesting that the deployment was truly winding down.
Russia’s S-400 fourth-generation advanced air defense missiles stationed in the eastern Mediterranean Sea will also stay in place.
The Aamaq news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic State group, claimed that the extremists killed a Russian military adviser near Palmyra this week showing a video of a bloodied man in military uniform as well as an automatic rifle, telecommunication devices, a helmet and first aid kit with writings in Russian. By doing so, Putin tacitly raised the death toll for Russian servicemen to five and confirmed that special forces had been deployed. “But the Syrians have a lot of tanks”, he said.
But critics charge that Putin’s foreign policies have sunk Russian Federation into an economic quagmire, with support for Ukrainian rebels and the Assad regime diverting finances from medical care, education and science.
Earlier pro-governmental Syrian daily Al-Watan said the talks – held indirectly between the two sides via the United Nations mediator – had failed to produce “any significant result”. But it is still a powerful indication that Putin has not abandoned Assad despite a hard-line stance taken by Syrian negotiators at peace talks in Geneva this week.
Stoltenberg told The Associated Press on Wednesday that it’s a contribution to efforts to reduce military tensions and find a peaceful solution to the Syrian conflict.
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While some Russian troops will remain in Syria and Russia still retains a seat at the talks table, all in all this is a positive development.
