President Vladimir Putin announced, out of the blue, on Monday that “the main part” of Russian armed forces in Syria would start to withdraw. He also told his diplomats to step up the push for peace as UN-mediated talks resumed on ending the five-year-old war.
The move was announced on the day UN-brokered talks, involving the warring sides in Syria, resumed in Geneva.
Damascus rejected any suggestion of a rift with Moscow, saying President Bashar al-Assad had agreed on the “reduction” of Russian forces in a telephone call with Putin.
In Damascus, the Syrian presidency, said in a statement, that Assad had agreed to the reduction in the Russian air force presence, and denied suggestions it reflected a difference between the two countries.
The whole subject happened in complete coordination between the Russian and Syrian sides, and is a step that was carefully and accurately studied for some time.Official Statement from President Bashar al-Assad’s Office
Western diplomats speculated that Putin may be trying to press Assad into accepting a political settlement to the war, which has killed 250,000 people, although US officials saw no sign yet of Russian forces preparing to pull out.
The anti-Assad opposition expressed bafflement, with a spokesman saying, “Nobody knows what is in Putin’s mind”.
In September Russia’s military intervention in Syria helped to turn the tide of war in Assad’s favour after months of gains in western Syria by rebel fighters, who were aided by foreign military supplies, including US-made anti-tank missiles.
Putin’s surprise announcement at a meeting with his defence and foreign ministers came with no advance word to the United States.
The effective work of our military created the conditions for the start of the peace process. I believe that the task put before the defence ministry and Russian armed forces has, on the whole, been fulfilled.Vladimir Putin
In Geneva, United Nations mediator Staffan de Mistura told the warring parties there was no “Plan B” other than a resumption of conflict if the first of three rounds of talks, that aim to agree a “clear roadmap” for Syria, failed to make progress.
Putin and US President Barack Obama spoke on the phone on Monday about Syria, with the Kremlin saying the two leaders “called for an intensification of the process for a political settlement” to the conflict.
The White House said Obama welcomed the reduction in violence since the beginning of the cessation of hostilities but “underscored that a political transition is required to end the violence in Syria.”
Opposition spokesman Salim al-Muslat demanded a total Russian withdrawal.
Nobody knows what is in Putin’s mind, but the point is he has no right to be in be our country in the first place. Just go.Salim al-Muslat, Opposition Spokesman
Russia’s UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, confirmed some forces would stay in Syria. “Our military presence will continue to be there, it will be directed mostly at making sure that the ceasefire, the cessation of hostilities, is maintained,” he told reporters at the United Nations in New York.
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