Russia’s Putin Orders Withdrawal Of Troops From Syria
KABUL: (MEP) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday unexpectedly ordered his country’s armed forces to start withdrawing from Syria as peace talks began.
Putin announced the decision in a televised meeting with Russia’s foreign and defense ministries, hailed Moscow’s nearly six months of air campaign in Syria as a positive step, saying it created conditions for peace talks.
He said the Russian intervention had largely achieved its objectives.
He spoke with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a phone conversation and then said in a statement that the “principal tasks set for the armed forces of Russia in Syria have been accomplished” since the bombing campaign began against Takfiris in September.
Perhaps the most urgent questions were how the move would affect the war’s outcome and what it meant for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, whose rule had been increasingly threatened by a string of military losses before Russian forces backed him up.
The Russian decision could signal a new confidence in Mr. Assad’s stability or an effort to pressure him to negotiate with his political adversaries — or both.
The unexpected decision came hours after peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition resumed in the Swiss city of Geneva.
