World Watches Trump, Russia Enlarges Military Presence in Syria
Local Editor
Russia signed a long-term agreement with the Syrian government to greatly expand its military presence in the country, despite a recent statement from the Russian army's chief of staff that Moscow would begin a military exit from the Syrian conflict.
Meanwhile, Russia maintains two army bases in Syria.
The new agreement, signed on Friday, will double the amount of space available for Russian warships in the port city of Tartous, taking the number of berths available up to 11, and give Russian forces an airbase, which may be expanded to include a second runway.
Tass, the Russian news agency, said that the agreed leases would last 49 years, and could be renewed for a further 25.
Russian military power since September 2015 has been instrumental in helping the Syrian government gain the upper hand in the almost six-year-long war and regain control of Aleppo, which was captured from militants back in December.
In this regard, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia had agreed to reduce its military deployment in Syria under the terms of a 30 December ceasefire deal between Syrian opposition groups and the Syrian government, sending its only aircraft carrier and several other warships back to Murmansk last month.
It is widely thought that Aleppo's fall has strengthened Assad's position enough to allow Russia to begin a military exit, although many analysts pointed out at the time that Moscow's revitalized influence in the region is not likely to wane.
The news comes as delegations from Syria's government and armed opposition groups as well as Russia, Turkish and Iranian diplomats prepared for peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana on Monday.
The new initiative, designed to restart the peace process, was brokered by Russia and Turkey, which has backed Syria's militants in the conflict.
On Saturday it emerged that although the new US administration of Donald Trump had belatedly been invited to the talks, the US would not be sending a delegation, a State Department statement said.
Trump's exact policy position on the complex Syrian war is unclear. Previously, the US backed a broad coalition of militants fighting against the Syrian army, and maintained that President al-Assad must be removed from power.
President Trump has previously stated that while he "did not like [al-Assad] at all", shoring up his regime is the best way to stem the growth of extremist groups such as Daesh [ISIS/ISIL] that have flourished in the chaos of the war to threaten the US.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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