Having dramatically turned the tide of war in Assad’s favor with five months of intense bombardment of his foes, President Vladimir Putin is pressuring the Syrian leader to engage them in more meaningful dialogue in talks that have begun in Geneva.
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According to Cook, Russian jets continued to engage in some strikes in Syria, mostly on Daesh-controlled areas.
President Vladimir Putin warned Thursday that Russian Federation can again build up its forces in Syria “in a few hours” if necessary, and will continue striking extremist groups.
He added that a small component of ground forces have departed Syria but Russian forces at the Hmeymim air base in Latakia are still afield as well as the artillery power.
A video grab made on March 15, 2016, shows an image taken from a footage made available on the Russian Defence Ministry’s official website on March 15, 2016, reportedly showing Russian Su-34 bombers and a Tupolev Tu-154 transport plane (L) flying above an unknown location on their way from the Hmeimim airbase in Syria to their permanent bases in the Russian Federation. “The ceasefire has been really problematic for them and they’ve faced some popular resistance”, he said.
The UN Special Envoy in charge of talks Staffan de Mistura said the withdrawal was a “significant development” that he hoped would have a positive impact and lead to a “peaceful political transition” in the country.
In making the announcement Monday, Putin said that “the task that was assigned to the Ministry of Defense and the armed forces as a whole has achieved its goal”. Syrian opposition groups are acting more “constructively” at the talks than during a first, aborted round earlier this year, he said.
“I’m sure that we will see new and serious successes in the near future”, Putin told an audience of over 700 servicemen and military officers at the Kremlin ceremony.
Some governments expressed hope the Russian move could pressure its long-time ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to negotiate – although the Kremlin has denied that was its intention. A three-point plan presented to de Mistura on Monday by the Assad delegation included the formation of a national unity government that would include some opposition acceptable to Damascus, Al Arabiya reported, citing an unidentified person close to the talks. Russia’s indiscriminate attacks on all opposition forces had raised a lot of hue and cry, and Putin was accused of undermining the peacemaking efforts. “Unfortunately none of us knows what the intent of Mr Putin is when he carries out any action, which is why he is a very hard partner in any situation like this”, he said.
Russian Federation has said its 5-month bombing campaign in Syria had helped push back the jihadists and analysts say it has allowed Assad’s forces to gain ground and cement their hold on key parts of the country.
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A Russian military pilot is handed a plate of traditional bread-and-salt Tuesday on his return from Syria at an air base near. The number of sorties had been drastically reduced since the cease-fire went into effect on February 27.
