How Putin is trying to make his defeat in Syria look like a “victory”
The Russian dictator claims that Russia’s goal in Syria allegedly was to prevent terrorists from coming to power “like in Afghanistan,” and that this goal has supposedly been achieved.
This is blatant manipulation, as Russia is actively cooperating with the Taliban and even plans to remove them from its list of terrorist organizations.
The main rebel group in Syria, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, was recently labeled as terrorists by Sergey Lavrov. However, Putin now states that Russia “maintains relations with all the groups that control the situation there.” He is attempting to shift the blame for the failure of the al-Assad regime onto Iran and the Syrian Arab Army.
Putin’s statements are yet another example of his distortion of facts and reflect Russia’s efforts to normalize relations with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham to maintain its military bases in Syria.
