The ousted Syrian president Bashar Assad and several members of his family arrived in Moscow this Sunday. The Russian authorities provided them asylum“based on humanitarian considerations,” corroborated the RIA Novosti and Interfax agencies, citing a source in the Kremlin.
Hours earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry had announced that the former Syrian president, after negotiations “with several participants in the Syrian conflict”, decided to leave his post and gave instructions to “transfer power peacefully”.
After learning of Assad’s arrival in Moscow, “Russian officials are in contact with the leaders of the Syrian armed opposition”, who, according to these Russian sources, “have guaranteed the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic institutions in Syria. “We hope to continue the political dialogue in the name of the interests of the Syrian people and the development of bilateral relations between Russia and Syria,” RIA Novosti says, citing one of its sources. Moscow, which has described throughout the conflict as “terrorists” to all those who fought Assad, has softened his language after the overthrow of his ally.
TASS also reports that Syrian armed groups have taken control of the town of Jebla, which is next to the base aérea rusa de Khmeimim. The Al Jazeera television channel reported that Syrian armed groups have already entered the city of Tartus, which houses the Russian naval base.
Moscow now says that it considers it necessary to resume negotiations to resolve the situation in Syria under the UN auspices.