Russian lawmakers yesterday voted unanimously to let Russian President Vladimir Putin send Russian troops to Syria. The Kremlin sought to play down the decision, saying it will only use its air force there, not ground troops.
Putin had to request parliamentary approval for any use of Russian troops abroad, according to the constitution. The last time he did so was before Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March last year.
The Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, yesterday discussed Putin’s request for the authorization behind closed doors, cutting off its live Web broadcast to hold a debate notable for its quickness.
Photo: Reuters
Sergei Ivanov, head of Putin’s administration, said in televised remarks after the discussion that the parliament voted unanimously to give the green light to Putin’s plea. The proposal does not need to go to another legislative body.
Ivanov insisted that Moscow is not going to send ground troops to Syria, but would only use its air force “in order to support the government Syrian forces in their fight against the Islamic State” group.
Putin and other officials have said Russia was only providing weapons and training to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s army to help it combat the Islamic State group. However, recent satellites images have shown giant Russian military cargo planes in Syria, and Russian navy transport vessels have been shuttling back and forth for weeks to ferry troops, weapons and supplies to Syria.
Putin said in an interview on the US television network CBS earlier this week that Russia would not take part in any troop operations in Syria.
Ivanov told reporters that Russia decided to help al-Assad in order to protect its own country from Islamic militants, not because of “some foreign policy goals or ambitions that our Western partners often accuse us of.”
“We are talking about Russia’s national security interests,” Ivanov said, adding that Moscow is worried about the growing number of Russian recruits going off to fight for the Islamic State— a number he said was in the thousands.
Moscow should “take pre-emptive steps and do it on distant frontiers, instead of facing the issue here and later on,” Ivanov said.
Putin’s troop request came after his meeting on Monday with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, where the two discussed Russia’s recent military buildup in Syria.
Ivanov said the motion came after Moscow received a request from al-Assad asking for help.
He said the biggest difference between other countries conducting air strikes in Syria — such as the US — is that “they do not comply with the international law, but we do.”
The Syrian presidency yesterday said that Damascus had requested Russian military support and that al-Assad sent a letter to Putin “in this regard.”
A Russian official close to the matter yesterday told Reuters that Moscow had sent military experts to the recently established Baghdad center coordinating air strikes and ground troops in Syria. He would not say how many went.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said the center is used to share information on possible air strikes in Syria.
Additional reporting by Reuters
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese