The fall of Assad does not constitute a defeat for Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed Thursday that the overthrow in Damascus of his close ally, Bashar al-Assad, is not a “defeat” for Moscow, considering that the Russian army, which has been in Syria since 2015, “achieved its goal.”
He said during his major annual press conference: “There are those who are trying to portray what happened in Syria as a defeat for Russia. I assure you that this is not the case.”

Russian presence in Syria

He added: “We went to Syria ten years ago to prevent the establishment of a terrorist enclave there, as in Afghanistan, and in general, we achieved our goal,” but he admitted that there was a “difficult” situation.
Putin told reporters during the conference, which millions of Russians watched on their screens, “Russia today is in the state we wanted. It has become stronger.”
Putin said Thursday that Russia had proposed to its partners “to use the Hmeimim air base to deliver humanitarian aid.”
He pointed out, “This proposal is accepted with understanding, and the same applies to the Tartus naval base,” adding, “The overwhelming majority of countries in the region confirm that preserving our military bases is important to them.”