HNC Says Russian Air Campaign Strengthened Damascus But Prevented Compromise

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Russian anti-terrorist operation in Syria, launched a year ago Friday, strengthened Damascus but prevented its evolution toward a compromise with rebels, the opposition's High Negotiations Committee (HNC) spokeswoman told Sputnik.

"It [the Russian operation] is extending the conflict by giving people around Assad the message that the regime is there and Assad will not fall. I mean to people who are hesitant and who are watching closely whether they should continue to support Assad or whether there are indications that he is weakening, and therefore they should go for a compromise," Bassma Kodmani said.

Spokeswoman of the Riyadh-backed opposition group also believes the Russian operation "pushed the moderate groups to use more radical defense in certain areas to protect themselves."

"It all prevented the evolution towards compromise from the regime side, from around Assad," she added.

The HNC group is one of the three opposition groups participating in the UN-mediated intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, alongside the Moscow-Cairo-Astana formed opposition group and the Hmeimim internal opposition group. One of the leaders of the Hmeymim group, Tarek Ahmad, told Sputnik earlier this month that the Russian anti-terror operation in Syria prevented the realization of the Iraqi or Libyan scenarios which implied destruction of state institutions and fragmentation of the ethnically diverse country. According to Ahmad, the Russian prevented Syria from falling apart

Friday marks the anniversary of the Russian anti-terrorist aerial campaign in Syria, launched at request of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Since the start of the campaign and until March 2016, the Russian Aerospace Forcesconducted over 9,000 strikes against the terrorist group outlawed in Russia, helping Damascus launch offensives in key regions of the country. Earlier in September,

In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a decision to withdraw a major bulk of the Russian forces following what he believes to be successful fulfillment of their tasks in Syria. At the same time, Russia did not abandon its obligations to provide the Syrian government with weapons and military equipment, train military specialists. Hmeimim air base and a naval facility in the port of Tartus remain operational while Russia's S-400 and Pantsir air defense systems continue to be on duty in Syria to protect Russian servicemen in the war-torn country.