Russia's Putin makes rare visit to Syria, meets Assad

Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Jan. 7, the Russian leader's second trip to Syria since Moscow intervened decisively on the Syrian president's behalf in the country's war.

The visit comes at a time of heightened regional tension - Assad's other main military ally, Iran, has retaliated against the United States for the killing of an Iranian general in a drone strike.

Qassem Soleimani, who was one of the key figures in Syria's war as the architect of Iranian military operations in the Middle East, had just arrived in Iraq from Syria when he was killed by a U.S. drone on Jan. 3 at Baghdad airport.

Russian and Iranian support has helped Assad win back nearly all the territory lost to rebels who tried to overthrow him during the war that began nearly nine years ago.

Syrian state news agency SANA showed a photograph of Putin smiling as he shook Assad's hand and said they had listened to a military presentation by the head of Russian forces in Syria.

Putin and Assad discussed recent developments in the region and plans to "eliminate terrorism" in the Idlib region, one of the last pieces of Syrian territory held by anti-Assad insurgents, SANA reported.

Putin also delivered greetings to Russian forces in Syria.

Accompanied by Assad, Putin visited the Old City of Damascus including, the 8th century Umayyad mosque and an ancient church.

Putin is due to hold talks on Jan. 8 with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, which has sent forces into much of northern Syria to beat back Kurdish-led forces that had been backed by the United States.

Putin's previous trip to Syria was in 2017, when he visited Russia's Hmeymim air base.

Putin told Assad that much had been done to restore Syrian statehood, while Assad thanked Putin for his assistance in restoring peaceful life in Syria, Russia's Interfax news agency reported, citing the Kremlin.

Soleimani, the Iranian general killed last week, had played a critical role in supervising Iran-backed ground forces to support the Syrian government during the war and coordinated with Moscow ahead of its intervention in 2015.

Russia 'presents Syrian Kurds with road map'

Meanwhile, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which lost significant territory that it had controlled in parts of northern Syria prior to Turkey's Operation Peace Spring last year, met with officials from Russia on Dec. 26, 2019 and were presented with a 10-article road map for achieving a settlement with the Syrian government, according to a report in the Saudi Arabian newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.

Made possible by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria, Operation Peace Spring is Turkey’s third Syria offensive in the last three years. Aiming to clear the border from the SDF and establish a safe zone, it was backed by all political parties in parliament, except the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

Among the articles that were allegedly presented to the Syrian Kurds by Russian officials in the northern Syrian city of Qamishli included a Kurdish political representation in the Syrian government, a common economic and military committee established between the Syrian Kurds and Damascus, official documents for Kurds and official certificates for Kurdish students, and the launching of a dialogue between the SDF and the Syrian government on the topic of Kurdish autonomy.

Other articles included the Syrian military removing its soldiers from schools and universities in Syria's predominantly-Kurdish region, and ensuring the security of the Syrian military's checkpoints to the west of the Euphrates River.

According to the report, the Russian committee met with the Syrian government on Dec. 25 prior to meeting with Kurdish officials the next day, and that all sides may meet again for further discussions in Damascus.