Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev yesterday said that Russia is fighting for its national interests in Syria, not for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“Of course we are not fighting for specific leaders, we are defending our national interests, on the one hand,” Medvedev said in an interview to air on state television.
“And secondly, we have a request from the lawful authorities [of Syria]. That is the basis we are working on,” he said, quoted on the government Web site.
Photo: EPA
Medvedev said Russia in Syria is defending itself against the threat of Muslim extremists coming to its own country.
“The [Russian] president [Vladimir Putin] said this: It’s obvious that if we don’t destroy these terrorists there, they will come to Russia,” Medvedev said.
It does not matter to Russia who heads Syria in the future, as long as it is not the Islamic State (IS) group, Medvedev said.
“We don’t want IS to head Syria... It should be civilized, legitimate authorities,” he said. “Who will lead Syria should be decided by the Syrian people.”
Russia is “working on the basis that [al-]Assad is the legitimate president,” he added.
Moscow this week expressed outrage that the US declined to host a Russian delegation on Syria led by Medvedev.
“I think this is stupid behavior,” Medvedev said. “As a result of such decisions or a refusal to hold talks, the Americans just demonstrate their weakness.”
Medvedev said that the US operation in Syria had “practically zero” impact on the Islamic State group and “only Russia’s intervention changed the situation.”
On Friday, Syrian troops backed by Russian air power and allied militias opened a new front against rebels around the second city of Aleppo, where Washington said up to 2,000 Iran-backed forces were deployed.
The Aleppo offensive is the fourth that al-Assad’s regime has launched since Moscow began an air campaign on Sept. 30.
Control of Aleppo city, once the country’s economic hub, has been divided between the regime and rebels since mid-2012. The front lines there and in the surrounding countryside have long been static.
A security source said the operation in the southern Aleppo Governorate was backed by Russian strikes and fighters from Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia.
The joint command for the Aleppo operation said the army had begun operations on the western and southern outskirts of Aleppo “to liberate you from the armed terrorist groups.”
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
A clandestine US Navy special missions unit colloquially known as SEAL Team 6 has been training for missions to assist Taiwan’s defense against an attack by China, the Financial Times said in a report yesterday. The navy commando team famous for killing Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, has been conducting training to take part in a Taiwan conflict at its Dam Neck headquarters in Virginia Beach for more than one year, it said, citing sources familiar with the matter. “The secret training underlines the increased US focus on deterring China from attacking Taiwan, while stepping up preparations for such an event,”
RSS