Russia granted asylum to ousted Syrian President al-Assad, Kremlin confirmed. Bashar al-Assad news
The decision to grant asylum to Bashar al-Assad comes amid concerns over Russian military bases in Syria.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed that ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was granted asylum in Russia as he fled a rapid advance by opposition forces, adding that the decision was taken personally by President Vladimir Putin. Was taken from.
“Of course, such decisions cannot be taken without the head of state. “This is his (Putin’s) decision,” Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Monday. However, he declined to comment on al-Assad’s specific whereabouts and said Putin was not planning to meet him.
“Russian authorities have granted political asylum,” Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova, reporting from Moscow, said. “We see reports from our side that Russia has not spared the Syrian president who resigned under such difficult circumstances. Al-Assad was reportedly evacuated by a Russian aircraft from a Russian airbase in Latakia.
Shapovalova said it remained to be seen what effect the decision to grant asylum to the former leader would have on his assets in Russia and Syria.
“The most important question is the fate of Russian military bases,” Shapovalova said, “namely a naval base in Tartus and an air base in Hmeimim, Latakia.”
Our reporter said the Kremlin is taking precautions to ensure the safety of its personnel, but reports coming from Tartus indicate no imminent threat.
The Kremlin said it was too early to say what the future of Russia’s military bases in Syria would be. “All this is a matter for discussion with those who will be in power in Syria,” Peskov said.
The Tartus facility is Russia’s only Mediterranean repair and replenishment center, and Moscow has used Syria as a staging post to fly its military contractors in and out of countries in Africa.
Speaking about the broader regional and international situation, the Kremlin spokesman said he saw turbulent times ahead with a high probability of conflict. “We look at the situation around Ukraine, we see a lot of contradictory statements in this regard, we see the possibility of escalating conflict in other regions, we can say a burning Middle East,” he said.
Concerns have increased about Syria’s future leadership
The rapid advance of the opposition coalition led by former al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took the world by surprise on Sunday, and Russia was no exception.
HTS is still designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations and most countries, but it has distanced itself from its al-Qaeda roots to soften its image and reassure foreign states and minority groups within Syria. Spent years trying to overcome.
Peskov said Moscow is in contact with Ankara and other regional players on the situation in Syria and that Russia is ready for dialogue with all countries in the region in the event of further instability.
Russia, Turkey and Iran regularly negotiate the future of Syria in a trilateral format, known as the Astana peace process.
The fall of al-Assad destroyed one of the main bastions from which Iran and Russia wield power across the region. Turkiye, long associated with al-Assad’s enemies, emerged stronger, while Israel said it was the result of its strike on al-Assad’s Iranian-backed allies.
On Monday, the Israeli army published photos of its troops in the Mount Hermon border area. It said it was carrying out air strikes to protect suspected chemical weapons sites and long-range rockets from falling into the hands of opposition fighters.
Israel attacked Iran-linked sites in Syria on Sunday and sent tanks to the demilitarized buffer zone along the border to prevent unrest there, but said it intended to stay out of the conflict.
