U.S. President-elect Donald Trump made bold statements on the social media platform Truth, alleging that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country and criticizing Russia for its involvement in Syria.
Donald Trump © Mena Today
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump made bold statements on the social media platform Truth, alleging that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country and criticizing Russia for its involvement in Syria.
"Assad is no longer there. He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, no longer wished to shield him," Trump wrote. He added that Russia "had no reason to be there in the first place" and suggested the Kremlin has lost interest in Syria due to its focus on Ukraine.
According to Trump, Russia is preoccupied with the war in Ukraine, where "nearly 600,000 Russian soldiers are wounded or dead" in a conflict he described as unnecessary and potentially endless.
He also argued that "Russia and Iran are both weakened"—Russia by the economic and human toll of Ukraine, and Iran by "Israel's successes on the battlefield."
A high-level Turkish delegation will visit Damascus on Monday to discuss bilateral ties and the implementation of a deal for integrating the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into Syria's state apparatus, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said.
The United States carried out large-scale military strikes against more than 70 Islamic State targets across central Syria on Friday, U.S. officials said, in response to a recent attack that killed American personnel.
The decision by the United States to lift sanctions on Syria marks a major political shift and offers a rare opportunity for a country shattered by more than a decade of war to begin rebuilding.
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