Assad says Russia forced him to flee Syria

The Telegraph: Bashar al-Assad has said Russia forced him to flee Syria and that he wanted to continue fighting the “terrorist onslaught”.

In his first statement since the fall of Damascus, the former president said that he went to the Russian air base in Latakia on Dec 8 to “oversee combat operations” as the capital was taken by the rebels.

After the base came under drone fire, Moscow ordered an immediate evacuation to Russia, Assad said.

“At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge, nor was such a proposal made by any individual or party,” he said.

Assad then went on to claim that he had never betrayed his country for personal gain and had throughout the war “stood alongside officers and soldiers of the army on the front lines, just metres from the terrorists”.

 “This does not, in any way, diminish my profound sense of belonging to Syria and her people,” he added.

Assad, who Russia says is now living in asylum in Moscow with his family, released the statement on Monday via the Syrian presidency’s Telegram channel.

Russia says Assad is now living in Moscow with his family - Valeriy Sharifulin/Reuters

Last week, Russia began evacuating personnel and equipment from Syria, but said it was in discussions with the ruling Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) rebels about securing the future of its naval port at Tartus and its Hmeimim air base in Latakia.

On Monday, it admitted that the fate of the two bases had not yet been decided.

“There are no final decisions on this,” Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s press secretary, said. “We are in contact with representatives of the forces that now control the situation in the country.”

Russia has been rapidly withdrawing from the Manbij and Kobani areas of northern Syria because HTS and Turkish-backed rebel groups will not let them stay there, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

It was also revealed on Monday that Assad sent about £200 million in cash to Russia between 2018 and 2019, a period when Syria became dependent on Moscow’s military support.

Nearly two tons of banknotes in $100 and €500 bills were flown from Syria into Moscow’s Vnukovo airport to be deposited at sanctioned Russian banks, according to records seen by the Financial Times.

On Monday, EU leaders suggested that Russia must be thrown out of Syria before the bloc will support the new rebel government, as a tug of war emerges between the West and Moscow for influence over Damascus.

Caspar Veldkamp, the Dutch foreign minister, said that “regarding the Russian military bases in Syria, we want the Russians out”.

He added that lifting sanctions on HTS should be on the condition of an “inclusive political transition”.

‘A very clear message’

Mr Veldkamp’s comments were echoed by Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, who warned Syria’s new rulers that “Russia and Iran are not your friends, are not helping you if you are in trouble”.

She added: “They left Assad’s regime, and that is a very clear message showing that their hands are full elsewhere and they are weakened.”

Jose Manuel Albares, Spain’s foreign minister, said the new administration in Damascus must respect the EU’s “red lines” before it gets the bloc’s support. He said one of these was that there must be no “foreign interference” in the country.

The UK and the US confirmed at the weekend that they had made diplomatic contact with HTS, without elaborating on details of the talks.

David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, said on Monday: “I can confirm today that we have sent a delegation of Syria UK officials to Damascus this week for meetings with the new interim Syrian authorities.” He noted that the move “underlies our commitment to Syria”.

He added: “Yesterday I announced a £50 million package of humanitarian aid, also further money to help secure chemical weapons stockpiles in Syria.

 “We confirmed our support for the principals that have been set out at an inclusive transitional political process that is Syria led and Syria owned.”

Talks between the Kremlin and its former enemies who now control Syria are understood to be tense, but the country is reliant on Russia as its major wheat supplier.

Two Russian ships carrying wheat to Syria failed to reach the country on Friday because of payment delays and uncertainty over the new government, Russian and Syrian sources said.

On Saturday, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, stepped in, saying he had instructed officials to set up grain shipments to Syria.

On Sunday, Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya’s leader and an ally of Putin, vowed to ensure that wheat would be delivered to Syria, without specifying how or from where the wheat would come.

“I, as the head of the Chechen Republic, am ready to take responsibility and ensure the necessary amount of wheat for Syria,” he wrote on Telegram.

‘Unfriendly takeover’

Donald Trump, US president-elect, also weighed in on Assad’s ouster on Monday.

He characterised the rebel overthrow of Assad as an “unfriendly takeover” by US ally Turkey as he addressed the conflict at a news conference at his residence in Florida on Monday.

Mr Trump said: “I think Turkey is very smart... Turkey did an unfriendly takeover, without a lot of lives being lost.”

He added: “I can say that Assad was a butcher, what he did to children.”