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MOSCOW — President Bashar al-Assad of Syria flew to Moscow late Tuesday for an unannounced visit with President Vladimir V. Putin
of Russia to discuss their joint military campaign and a future
political transition in Syria, a Kremlin spokesman said on Wednesday.
The
two men discussed “issues regarding the fight against terrorist and
extremist groups, issues of the continuation of the Russian operation
supporting the offensive of the Syrian military,” Dmitry S. Peskov, the
spokesman, told reporters.
Mr. Assad briefed Mr. Putin about the situation on the ground in Syria and about future plans, he said.
Mr.
Putin told his Syrian counterpart that Russia was ready to contribute
to the fight against terrorism and to a political settlement of the
conflict that has raged for more than four years, according to Russian
news reports.
The Moscow meeting was the first encounter between the two men since Russian forces began airstrikes in Syria
three weeks ago. Although the air campaign has been publicly portrayed
as an effort to turn back Islamic State militants, the main targets have
been the opposition units that most directly threaten Mr. Assad.
Under
the cover provided by about 50 Russian military aircraft, the Syrian
armed forces, along with fighters from Iran and the Lebanese militant
group Hezbollah, have been pressing a ground offensive in and around
important central cities, including Aleppo.
Analysts
say they believe that Russia hopes to shore up Mr. Assad’s power over
key parts of central Syria and then push the fight against Islamic State
strongholds in the West. Russia and Syria tend to group the armed
opposition organizations, including both the Islamic State and rebels
backed by the West, as Islamic terrorists.
In a brief transcript released by the Kremlin, Mr. Putin told Mr. Assad that the military and political issues were linked.
“As
far as the Syrian settlement is concerned, we believe that on the basis
of positive dynamics in combat, in the end, long-term settlement will
be achieved with the participation of all political forces, as well as
ethnic and religious groups,” Mr. Putin said. “At the end of the day, it
will be the Syrian people who will have the decisive word.”
Mr.
Putin has said previously that the move toward a political transition
in Syria could happen in tandem with the military campaign.
The
United States and its regional allies, as well as central factions of
the opposition in exile, reject the idea of a significant role for Mr.
Assad in the transition. The Syrian government started a civil war that
has killed an estimated 250,000 people, left millions homeless and
decimated the country, rather than accede to the demands of peaceful
protesters demanding greater democracy in 2011. see more
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