Putin Calls for Cooperation between Washington and Moscow on Syria - UPDATE

Russia Would Provide Support to Armed Opposition Groups in Syria Willing to Fight the Islamic State - Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for cooperation between Washington and Moscow on Syria and beyond, saying it is now a crucial moment in East-West relations not unlike the end of the Cold War, the New York Times reported.

“Syria, despite the dramatic situation there now, might become a model for partnership for the sake of our joint interests, for the resolution of our problems, which concern everyone, for working out an effective system of risk management,” said Putin, seemingly laying out a broad plan for global cooperation with the United States and the West in general. (The New York Times, 23 October)

Putin said he hoped the beginning of such cooperation would emerge from talks in Vienna on Friday between the foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia as well as the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Putin made his remarks in Sochi at Valdai Discussion Club, an annual gathering of Russian experts, sharing the stage with regional figures, including Ali Larijani, Iran’s speaker of Majlis. Putin added the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who visited him in Moscow earlier in the week, was willing to make a common cause with the armed opponents, as long as they were willing to fight the Islamic State.

“I will pull back the curtain a little on my talks with President Assad,” Putin said, adding that he had proposed providing Russian support to armed opposition groups in Syria that are willing to fight the Islamic State.

“What would be your view if we were to support their efforts in fighting the Islamic State in the same way we are supporting the Syrian Army?” Putin said he asked, and Assad answered, “I would view that positively.” (The New York Times, 23 October)

The Russian leader emphasized that any political transition in Syria would have to be led by the current government, but added that it “should be a transparent process with international monitoring.”

Putin as well as Larijani in their speeches rejected proposals for Syria’s partition, calling them a formula for endless warfare and dangerous gains by the militants.

UPDATE: The foreign ministers of the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey met on Friday in Vienna to put forward new ideas for a political transition in Syria. They agreed to meet again next week in an expanded format, which could include foreign ministers from Iran and other regional countries.

“I am convinced… that today’s meeting was constructive and productive and succeeded in surfacing some ideas… which I hope have a possibility of changing the dynamics,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said after the meeting. (AP, 23 October)

Top photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin at Sochi gathering (BBC)
Bottom photo: From left: Foreign ministers of Turkey, United States, Saudi Arabia and Russia during their meeting on Syria; Vienna, Friday 23 October 2015 (Twitter)

Assad in Russia - UPDATE

In his first foreign trip since Syria's civil war started in 2011, Syrian President Assad made an unannounced trip to Moscow to discuss Syria with Russian President Putin. Assad arrived in Moscow on Monday.

Since Russia began its direct military involvement in Syria on 30 September, it has effectively assumed the leadership of the pro-government coalition fighting the opposition and Islamist extremist groups in the country. Putin told Assad that Russia was ready to contribute to the fight and to a political settlement of the conflict that has raged for more than four years, the Kremlin said in a statement today. The statement did not say if the future of Assad was also discussed in the meeting, but interestingly Assad was not accompanied by his military or political teams during the visit.

Meanwhile, Turkey said on Monday that it would accept the Syrian leader’s staying in office for the first six months of a political transition, at the end of which he must go. (The New York Times, 21 October) 

UPDATE: Russia said on Tuesday that president Putin had telephone conversations over the course of the day with King Salman of Saudi Arabia, President Erdogan of Turkey, President Sisi of Egypt, and King Abdullah of Jordan to discuss his talks in Moscow with Syrian President Assad. (President of Russia/Twitter)   

Photo credit: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin; Tuesday 21 October 2015 (AFP)

Russia Hints at Deploying Ground Forces in Syria

Moving Artillery and Rockets to Idlib and Homs

Russia appears to be ready to deploy ground forces in Syria. Today, Adm. Vladimir Komoyedov, who chairs Defense and Security Committee in the Russian Federation Council, said Russian “volunteers” could soon be deployed to Syria to support the Syrian army on combat operations, Russia’s news agencies reported.

CNN also reported that Russia is moving artillery and rockets from its base of operations at Latakia airport to Idlib and Homs for a possible ground operations against the opposition forces.

Russia has in the past successfully deployed its Special Forces, Spetsnaz, for counter-insurgent operations, including in Chechnya, Crimea and eastern Ukraine. The volunteers heading to Syria could well include elements of Spetsnaz.

The addition of Russian ground forces into the battle, supported by Russian airstrikes, would dramatically elevate Russian involvement in the 4.5-year civil war.

The opposition forces captured Idlib province earlier this year and were pushing to capture the neighboring Al Gharb area that separated them from the coast of Latakia, the traditional Alawai stronghold. The fall of Latakia would have been fatal to the regime. The Russian ground forces could now support the Syrian army to push the opposition forces out of Al Gharb and save Latakia for Assad.

It is not clear where and how the Russians could join forces with the Iranians, the Hezbollah and other foreign Shia militias. The Iran-led coalition has been engaged in heavy combat with the opposition in Aleppo recently. Since the beginning of its direct military intervention in Syria two weeks ago, however, Russia has conducted airstrikes against the opposition forces in Aleppo.

Russia's goal in Syria is becoming clearer. Support Assad rather than pushing for a political solution and a transition from Assad. And doing so by concentrating its attacks on opposition forces, and not ISIL. 

File photo: Russian Spetsnaz (Wikipedia)