“An attempt by Russia and Iran to prop up Assad and try to pacify the population is just going to get them stuck in a quagmire and it won’t work,” Obama stated at the time.
The news of the termination of Russia’s operation in Syria appeared a genuine surprise for Obama, as he seemed to get learn of it from the press rather than from the Kremlin, according to the author of the article.
According to the Sunday Times, Putin’s main goal in Syria was to support the country’s president Bashar al-Assad, whose positions at the time were shaky, and show that Moscow is an important player in the region.
“[O]n Syria he’s [Putin] the one pushing the agenda, forcing everyone else to pay attention. We’re playing catch-up,” an unnamed western diplomat said of the Russian President.
Max Booth, a former advisor to the CIA director David Petraeus reiterated that position.
“Putin has pulled off another coup and shown that he is a more adept international poker player than his counterpart in Washington,” he said.
On March 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Defense Ministry to withdraw the bulk of the Russian military contingent in Syria.
