Vladimir Putin says he has not met the deposed Syrian ruler since he fled Damascus for the Russian capital.
President Vladimir Putin says Russia has not been defeated in Syria after insurgent teams ousted his ally and longtime chief, Bashar al-Assad, earlier this month.
In his first public feedback on the topic on Thursday, Putin mentioned he had not but met the previous Syrian ruler who fled to the Russian capital, however that he “will certainly speak to him” and deliberate to satisfy him in Moscow.
He talked about he would ask al-Assad in regards to the destiny of lacking United States reporter Austin Tice, whose launch was described by the White Home as a “prime precedence”.
Talking at his annual end-of-the-year information convention, Putin additionally dismissed claims that Russia, which intervened in Syria in 2015 and turned the tide of the civil warfare there in al-Assad’s favour, had suffered a loss with the autumn of the previous regime.
“You wish to current what is occurring in Syria as a defeat for Russia,” Putin mentioned. “I guarantee you it isn’t … we’ve achieved our objectives.”
He mentioned Russia intervened in Syria to “forestall a terrorist enclave from being created there” and that “it isn’t for nothing that at present many European nations and the US wish to set up relations with them [Syria’s new rulers]”.
“We preserve relations with all of the teams that management the scenario there, with all of the nations within the area,” Putin continued, including that the “overwhelming majority of them inform us that they’d be eager about our army bases remaining in Syria”.
Russia supplied to take care of bases there “for humanitarian functions”, he mentioned. He additionally admitted to having evacuated 4,000 Iranian fighters within the aftermath of the autumn of the al-Assad authorities.
Russia-Ukraine warfare
On the subject of the continuing warfare in Ukraine, Putin mentioned he was prepared to debate the potential of reaching a compromise in talks with US President-elect Donald Trump.
He expressed his readiness to satisfy Trump at “any time”.
“I don’t know once I’m going to see him. He isn’t saying something about it. I haven’t talked to him in additional than 4 years. I’m prepared for it, in fact. Any time,” he mentioned.
Putin additionally touted what he mentioned was the invincibility of the “Oreshnik” hypersonic missile which Russia has already test-fired at a Ukrainian army manufacturing facility, saying he was able to organise one other launch at Ukraine and see if Western air defence techniques might shoot it down.
“Allow them to decide some goal for destruction, say in Kyiv, focus all their air defence and missile defence forces there, and we are going to strike there with Oreshnik and see what occurs,” he mentioned.
“We’re prepared for such an experiment, however is the opposite facet prepared?”