The objectives assigned to the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces as a whole would be achieved, said Vladimir Putin at a meeting with the Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs of Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu to start the withdrawal of the Russian contingent from Syria, since his duties have been performed. “I think that the objectives assigned to the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces as a whole have been achieved, then I say to the Minister of Defense to start from tomorrow the withdrawal of most of our military units in Syria,” – said Putin in a meeting with the Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that the decision on the withdrawal of troops has been agreed with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
In turn, the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu said that thanks to the Russian air raids on Islamic terrorists it was completely blocked the access to resources and supplies. He added that have been blocked the main supply routes for weapons and ammunition, as well as the oil smuggling with Turkey.
The Federation Council (upper house of the Russian Parliament) stressed that Russia does not give up the military assistance plan to the forces of Damascus (weapons and equipment supplies), as well as the work of military advisers.
The Russian military operation in Syria began last September 30. During the military campaign terrorist infrastructures of Daesh were destroyed such as command centers, training camps, communication centers and facilities for the extraction and oil refining. During the operation the Russian aircraft conducted about 5,200 combat missions and destroyed a large number of terrorist fundamentalists and infrastructure.
Officials said Monday 14/3 they saw no immediate sign of any pullout. Although Putin’s announcement caught Pentagon officials by surprise, officials have said they had questioned how long the Russian air campaign would last based on the fact that they were not making regular troop rotations.
Syrian opposition spokesman Salem Al Mislet, in Geneva, cautiously welcomed Putin’s move, but urged the Russian leader to withdraw his support for Assad too. “If this step, this action will remove all Russian troops from Syria then it will be a positive step, I believe,” he said, adding that Putin should follow up on that “by saying he is standing beside the Syrian people, not beside the Syrian dictatorship.”
The two sides are deeply split on Assad’s future. His foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, said Saturday 12/3 that any talk of removing Assad during a transitional period sought by the U.N. is “a red line,” and rejected the international call for a presidential election to be held within 18 months — a key demand of the opposition.
But De Mistura (the long-serving Italian-Swedish diplomat), keeping to language laid out in the U.N. Security Council resolution in December that paved the way for the talks, insisted that political change, including a timetable for new elections within 18 months, is the ultimate goal.
Asked if Putin discussed Assad’s political fate in Monday’s phone call with the Syrian leader, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it wasn’t part of the conversation.
Assad has announced that parliamentary elections in Syria will go ahead next month according to schedule. A Syrian official, Hisham al-Shaar, said the elections will be held only in areas under government control and there will be no polling stations in Syrian embassies abroad or in refugee camps.
Source: Sputnik