{"id":33851,"date":"2015-10-22T08:01:42","date_gmt":"2015-10-22T15:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/assad-putin-meeting-signals-push-to-end-crisis\/"},"modified":"2015-10-22T08:01:42","modified_gmt":"2015-10-22T15:01:42","slug":"assad-putin-meeting-signals-push-to-end-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/assad-putin-meeting-signals-push-to-end-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Assad-Putin meeting signals push to end crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

MOSCOW<\/strong> \u2014 Bashar Assad\u2019s surprise meeting with Vladimir Putin could signal that Russia ultimately seeks a political settlement after weeks of heavy airstrikes in Syria. But the terms of such an arrangement are uncertain, and questions remain about whether Moscow will seek the departure of its longtime ally or try for a power-sharing agreement.<\/p>\n

In a further sign that a diplomatic push might be underway to end the four-year crisis, Russia announced Wednesday that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had agreed to meet Friday in Vienna with their counterparts from Saudi Arabia and Turkey \u2014 both firm Assad critics.<\/p>\n

The Syrian president\u2019s visit to Moscow, his first known trip abroad since war broke out in 2011, was announced on Wednesday, the morning after it happened, and raised intense speculation about the two leaders\u2019 motives \u2014 and a strong response from Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe view the red-carpet welcome for Assad, who has used chemical weapons against his own people, at odds with the stated goal by the Russians for a political transition in Syria,\u201d said White House spokesman Eric Schultz.<\/p>\n

If nothing else, it underscored how emboldened the embattled Syrian leader has become in the wake of the Russian airstrikes that began on Sept. 30 and Iran\u2019s deployment of hundreds of ground forces to fight alongside Syrian government troops.<\/p>\n

Russia says it is targeting militants, especially those of the extremist Islamic State group. But critics, including the U.S., say Moscow\u2019s military intervention props up Assad and is likely to fan the violence.<\/p>\n

The oblique references Wednesday by both leaders to their meeting did little to shed light on their ultimate strategy.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Putin said that along with fighting militants, Moscow believes that \u201ca long-term settlement can only be achieved as part of a political process with the participation of all political forces, ethnic and religious groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

In separate comments posted on the Syrian presidency\u2019s official Facebook page, Assad said the Russian military operation in Syria had helped to halt the spread of terrorism and that a political solution could only come after that threat was addressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cTerrorism which we see spreading today could have been more widespread and more harmful if it weren\u2019t for your decisions and steps,\u201d Assad told Putin in the remarks carried by Arab media. The threat of terrorism, he said, \u201cobstructs\u201d any political solution to the crisis.<\/p>\n

Yet how long Russia is willing to continue its expensive and politically volatile airstrikes is open to question.<\/p>\n

\u201cPutin is not going to fight there forever,\u201d said analyst Dmitry Trenin of the Moscow Carnegie Center.<\/p>\n

The Russian leader \u201cneeds a quick result after which he can announce a Russian military success,\u201d said Trenin, suggesting Russia would then put \u201cthe burden of the war\u201d on Iran and Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Putin, it\u2019s important now to act not only as a military victor but as a political peacekeeper as well,\u201d Trenin said. \u201cPutin is perfectly aware of the fact that Assad is going to have to hand over power or divide it. The Syria that existed before 2011 cannot be restored.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others, however, said that in welcoming Assad, Putin was signaling that Russia would be uncompromising about Assad staying in power.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a serious statement meaning that Russia will continue to support Assad to the bitter end,\u201d said Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent Russian military analyst. \u201cThere will be no political settlement in the sense that the West sees it. The opposition must surrender and stop fighting Assad and join him, and that is going to be the political solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commentators on Syrian TV hailed the visit as an endorsement of Assad\u2019s legitimacy, reinforcing the notion that he must be part of a future political solution to the crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis lightning trip is a slap\u201d to Assad\u2019s opponents, Syrian analyst Bassam Abdullah told state television channel Ikhbariyah, adding that it highlights the need for political meetings, not just military action.<\/p>\n

Abdullah described the meeting as \u201cintimate\u201d and reflecting a common vision and values between the two leaders. \u201cThere is a clear strategic shift in the region … and it is happening fast,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Television footage showed Putin and Russia\u2019s foreign and defense ministers meeting with Assad, with the two leaders exchanging warm handshakes and smiles. Syrian government officials didn\u2019t say if anyone traveled with Assad and photos from the meeting didn\u2019t show a delegation accompanying the Syrian leader.<\/p>\n

Assad said Russia\u2019s intervention was in line with international law and praised it as an effort to rid Syria and the region of terrorism.<\/p>\n

Putin\u2019s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, declined to comment on any specific outcome of the talks. Asked if Assad\u2019s departure from power was under consideration, he said it was too early to discuss political solutions while the fight against terrorism continued.<\/p>\n

Since June, Russia has played with the idea of a political transition that would envisage setting up some sort of interim government, and has discussed the issue with the U.S., Saudi Arabia, the Syrian opposition and others.<\/p>\n

Moscow\u2019s diplomatic efforts have brought no visible results so far, though Putin has insisted that a political solution for Syria remains his top goal despite Russia\u2019s military action. He recently met with Saudi officials, staunch critics of Assad and supporters of the rebels fighting against him. After Tuesday\u2019s meeting with Assad, he called the Saudi king to brief him about the talks before the foreign ministers\u2019 meeting in Vienna on Friday.<\/p>\n

Moscow also has sought to alleviate the concerns of Turkey, a major economic partner and the second-biggest importer of Russian natural gas, which has been critical of Russia\u2019s intervention in Syria. Ankara also supports rebels fighting Assad.<\/p>\n

Answering questions about Assad\u2019s visit to Moscow, Turkey\u2019s prime minister took a jab at the Syrian leader, reiterating his country\u2019s position that Assad shouldn\u2019t have a role in Syria\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf only he could stay in Moscow longer, to give the people of Syria some relief. In fact, he should stay there so the transition can begin,\u201d Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters.<\/p>\n

Davutoglu insisted that efforts to find a solution to the Syrian crisis should focus \u201cnot on a transition with Assad, but on formulas for Assad\u2019s departure.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Aji reported from Damascus. Associated Press writers Sarah El Deeb in Beirut, Darlene Superville in Washington and Jim Heintz and Kate de Pury in Moscow contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

__<\/p>\n

A previous version of this story has been corrected to show that the Syrian conflict began in 2011, not 2001.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MOSCOW \u2014 Bashar Assad\u2019s surprise meeting with Vladimir Putin could signal that Russia ultimately seeks a political settlement after weeks of heavy airstrikes in Syria. But the terms of such an arrangement are uncertain, and questions remain about whether Moscow will seek the departure of its longtime ally or try for a power-sharing agreement. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[65],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-33851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-nation-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33851"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=33851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}