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Syria
Members of the Russian and Syrian armed forces stand guard at the Abu Duhur crossing, Idlib province on August 20, 2018. Photo:AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – US special representative for Syria engagement James Jeffrey believes ties between Moscow and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are deteriorating.
In an online webinar focusing on Syria with the US-based think tank Hudson Institute on Tuesday, Jeffrey revealed that reports regarding tensions between Russia and Damascus are “accurate”.
“We have conducted various talks with the Russians over the past years on various levels, and the Russians are not happy with Assad,” he added.
Russia is Assad’s strongest ally, providing vital military support to Damascus since 2015. Moscow’s engagement in Syria has led to accusations of war crimes, with Russian jets providing support to the Syrian air force, who are accused of targeting civilians in the decade-long civil war.
The latest report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, based on over 200 interviews conducted both in Syria and Geneva, provides substantial evidence that Russia bombed civilian areas in the northwest of the country.
According to Jeffrey, Moscow’s military might has not saved them from the political issues they face in Damascus, and called on Russia to “distance themselves to some degree from Assad” and Iran – another ally of the Syrian regime.
Syrians first took to the streets in 2011 to protest against Assad, before evolving into a civil war involving multiple countries.
At least 384,000 people have since died in the conflict, including more than 116,000 civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights revealed on March 14.
The conflict has displaced more than 11 million people internally and abroad.
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