Putin, Assad imply Turkey creating problems in Syria

Photo: Kremlin

Click to read the article in Turkish

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and his counterpart from Syria Bashar Assad met in Moscow on Monday (September 13) to discuss the situation in Syria.

Both leaders accused "foreign countries" of hindering the normalization of the country while hailing the success in the "fight against terrorism."

"I believe that the fundamental problem lies in the presence in some parts of the country of foreign armed forces without any mandate from the United Nations or your permission," Putin told Assad, according to a readout released by Kremlin.

"Regrettably, there are still some pockets of resistance, where the terrorists not only control part of the territory but also continue to terrorize peaceful civilians," he said.

For his part, Assad said, "There are some states who do everything possible to affect the opportunity to organize political processes destructively," according to SANA, Syria's state-run news agency.

"Nevertheless, we are determined in Syria ... to proceed in parallel in the of liberating the lands and in political dialogue."

Putin was apparently referring to the troops of the US and Turkey, both of which are opposed by Damascus.

The US keeps less than 1,000 soldiers in the country in the areas controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as well as in the Al-Tanf base in southern Syria.

Turkey, meanwhile, has thousands of troops in Idlib, the last stronghold of the anti-government armed groups in northwestern Syria.

Over the past few weeks, Russis has intensified air raids on the province mostly controlled by the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, which is considered a "terrorist organization" by both Ankara and Moscow.

Assad and Putin did not mention a land offensive into the province. (PT/VK)