MOSCOW (Reuters) – Syrians will have to cope with a full-scale civil war alone, Konstantin Kosachyov, deputy chairman of Russia’s upper house of parliament said on Sunday, while suggesting that Moscow was ready to support the Syrian people in certain circumstances.
Syrian rebels announced on Sunday that they had ousted President Bashar al-Assad, after seizing control of Damascus on Sunday, ending his family’s iron-fisted rule after more than 13 years of civil war in a seismic moment for the Middle East.
Russia, a staunch Assad ally, intervened decisively in 2015 to prop him up during Syria’s civil war. But with its military resources mostly tied down in Ukraine, Russia’s ability to influence the situation on the ground was far more limited this time round – despite maintaining two military facilities in Syria – and it did not mobilise the same level of resources.
Russian war bloggers have raised fears about the fate of the two Russian military facilities under the rebels but they so far appear to be still functioning while the Russian Embassy in Damascus has said its staff are “fine.”
Kosachyov, a veteran Russian expert in international affairs, predicted that the civil war in Syria would not end with Assad’s departure and that tough times were ahead.
“Syria is a very difficult story, for everyone without exception. One way or another, the civil war will not end today, there are too many opposing interests and too many opposing forces. Including outright terrorist groups. And that is why the hardest part is ahead again,” Kosachyov wrote on his official Telegram channel.
“It’s a tragedy, I repeat, for everyone. And for us Russians, our primary task is to ensure the safety of our compatriots and civilians, including of our diplomats and their families, and, of course, of the military personnel who are there for the sake of Syria, its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“If the people of Syria continue to need our support, it will be provided. But hardly in the context of a full-scale civil war. The Syrians will have to deal with that themselves,” he said.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Andrew Osborn and Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
