Bashar al-Assad’s debt of gratitude to Putin

An Ugly Victory Lap in Russia

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s surprise meeting with Vladimir Putin ahead of a Russian-hosted summit on Syria’s future was essentially a victory lap, writes Yochi Dreazen for Vox. Despite all the U.S. bluster, Assad – and Russia – have won the Syrian civil war.

“The meeting marks just the second time in six years of brutal fighting that Assad has been willing to leave Syria; unsurprisingly, both were to Russia, which helped Assad beat back his rivals by sending troops, bombers, attack helicopters, and other weaponry weapons into Syria,” Dreazen writes.

“Russia…poured money, weapons, and troops into Syria, helping Assad rapidly began to reclaim territory from the rebel groups and deal them a string of battlefield defeats. The biggest blow came last December, when Assad retook Aleppo, one of Syria’s biggest cities and a longtime rebel stronghold. (It was a somewhat Pyrrhic victory; brutal strikes by Russian and Syrian warplanes and helicopters leveled much of the city, killed thousands of its residents, and forcing tens of thousands of others to flee for their lives).”

“The problem is that Trump, like his predecessors, did nothing of any real significance to push Assad out. Putin, meanwhile, worked hard -- and was willing to risk the lives of many of his own troops -- to make sure Assad stayed in power. It’s no wonder that Assad traveled to Russia to Putin to publicly thank him; in a very real way, Putin is the biggest reason that Assad has effectively won the Syrian civil war.”

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