President Putin denies defeat after rebels capture Syria
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is not defeated in Syria even after rebel groups ousted his ally and long-term leader Bashar al-Assad earlier this month, Al Jazeera reported.
On Thursday, Putin said he had not yet met the former Syrian ruler, who has fled to the Russian capital, but he would “definitely talk to him” and planned to meet him in Moscow, according to the report. He said he would ask Assad about missing American journalist Austin Tice, whose release the White House has called a “top priority.”
Speaking at his annual year-end news conference, Putin also refuted claims of Russia’s losses with the fall of the former regime. Russia intervened in Syria in 2015 and turned the tide of the civil war there in favor of Assad.
“You want to present what is happening in Syria as a defeat for Russia,” Putin said, according to Al Jazeera. “I assure you that is not the case… We have achieved our goals.” He said that Russia intervened in Syria “to prevent it from becoming a terrorist zone” and “it is not without reason that today many European countries and the United States are [सीरिया के नए शासकों] Want to establish relations with.”
Putin further said, “We maintain relations with all groups that control the situation there and with all countries in the region.” He further said that “the majority of them have told us that they are interested in the continuation of our military bases in Syria.”
