President Bashar Assad says he would welcome any proposals from Moscow to set up new military bases in his country
Russia’s military presence in Syria should become permanent, President Bashar Assad suggested in an interview with RIA news agency on Thursday after meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow the day before.
Assad said he would welcome any Russian proposals to set up new military bases and boost troop numbers in the country, adding that Moscow’s presence in Syria is “a good thing” and does not need to be temporary or limited to just fighting terrorism.
“The war against terror is today’s topic, but it is temporary,” Assad said, adding that “Russia’s military presence in any country should not be based on anything temporary.”
Instead, the Syrian leader pointed out that the issue is about “international balance” and that Russia’s presence in Syria “is important in terms of the balance of power in the world as a country located on the Mediterranean Sea.”
He added that, in his opinion, superpowers today cannot defend themselves or fulfill their proper roles on the world stage if their presence is limited only to their state territories. “They should work outside of [their territories] through their allies in the world or through military bases,” Assad said.
“We believe that if Russia has a desire to expand the bases or increase their number, then this is a technical or logistical issue. If there is such a desire, then we believe that the expansion of the Russian presence in Syria is good,” Assad told RIA.
He noted, however, that the topic of bases has not been discussed by the two sides “from a military point of view” and that announcements on this kind of cooperation are rarely made due to the inherent secrecy of military issues. But he stressed that both Russia and Syria have a common view on the topic in both political and military terms.
Moscow and Damascus have had close ties since the Soviet era. In 2015, Russia sent its military into Syria to help Damascus fight back against Islamic State as well as the militias of Western-backed jihadist groups opposing Assad’s government. In 2017, Russia deployed a navy logistics center in the city of Tartus for 49 years, which in the future is expected to be able to host up to eleven Russian warships, including nuclear vessels, at the same time.
RT (Russia Today) is a state-owned news organization funded by the Russian government. The information provided by this news source is being included by the Libertarian Hub not as an endorsement of the Russian government, but rather because it is being actively censored by Big Tech, Western governments and the corporate press. During times of conflict it is imperative that we have access to both sides of the story so we can form our own opinions, even if both sides are spewing their own propaganda. The censorship of RT, despite likely being a propaganda outfit for the Russian government, reduces our ability to hear one side of the conflict. For that reason, the Libertarian Hub will temporarily republish the RSS feed from RT. Visit https://rt.com
