Syria conflict: Assad in surprise visit to Moscow

The BBC’s Jim Muir says key questions remain after the meeting

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has visited Moscow on his first overseas trip since the civil war broke out in his country in 2011.

During the surprise visit, he held talks with President Vladimir Putin.

Russia launched air strikes in Syria last month against the so-called Islamic State (IS) and other militant groups battling Mr Assad’s forces.

Mr Assad said Russia’s involvement had stopped “terrorism” becoming “more widespread and harmful” in Syria.

For his part, Mr Putin said Moscow’s hope, in providing a “positive dynamic in the fighting”, was that a “long term resolution can be achieved on the basis of a political process with the participation of all political forces, ethnic and religious groups”.

The visit happened on Tuesday evening, but was not announced until Wednesday – after Mr Assad had returned to Damascus.

President Assad’s surprise visit to Moscow represents a sign of growing confidence by the embattled Syrian president. He feels it safe to leave Damascus for the first time since the civil war in Syria erupted.

It is also a visible symbol of Russia’s confidence in the current Syrian regime. Having Mr Assad turn up in Moscow shows that there is little doubt that for now at least, President Putin is intent on shoring up Mr Assad’s position.

But the trip may also mark a new stage in Russia’s efforts to roll out a diplomatic plan alongside its military intervention in Syria; an illustration that Russia deals with Mr Assad, and that for now at least Mr Assad has to be part of any interim solution.

In comments that were videoed and published by the Kremlin, Mr Putin thanked Mr Assad for coming despite the “dramatic situation” back home.

He praised the Syrian people for “almost alone… resisting, fighting international terrorism for several years. They had suffered serious losses, but recently have been achieving serious results in this fight,” he added.

Mr Putin said Russia was also concerned by the 4,000 people from the former Soviet Union believed to be fighting in Syria. “We cannot permit them – once they get fighting experience there and ideological training – to turn up here in Russia,” he said.

BBC