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The Russian Defense Ministry says it is ready to strengthen cooperation with the US military in Syria, following talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The ministry said Tuesday in a statement that it was ready for a "practical implementation" of agreements reached by Trump and Putin.
He stated that the Russian military leaders are ready to intensify their contacts with their American counterparts on "cooperation in Syria" and to extend the START treaty on arms control, but gave no details.
Putin said that Russia and the United States had found a common ground on Syria during Monday's talks, but gave little details. Critics of Vladimir Putin's attack in Helsinki accuse Trump of the absolution of Russia's role in the disastrous Syrian conflict.
Since the beginning of the war, it is estimated that more than half a million people have been killed in Syria and more than 13 million refugees, including 6.6 million internally displaced persons, 5 million neighboring Arab and African countries and 1 million in Europe. It is still estimated that 8.1 thousand people live in besieged places.
The role of Russia
The United States and Russia supported the opposite sides of the war in Syria, but US and Russian authorities are working on a final agreement on the regional power balance in post-Syria Syria war.
The Russian military intervention in Syria officially began on September 30, 2015, after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad wrote to Vladimir Putin asking for help to secure the country.
Russia and Syria are not only longtime friends of the arms trade, which dates back to the Soviet Union era, but Russia also has interests in keeping Assad in power and Islamists at bay. The only naval base of Russia outside the former Soviet Union is located on the Mediterranean Sea in the Syrian city of Tartus.
Russia began to hit Syria on September 30, 2015 around Homs and Hama. The airstrikes have caused huge civilian casualties – the British non-profit organization Airwars has pulled the average of various reports and found that about 6196 civilians have been killed by Russian airstrikes since the beginning of his participation in 2015 until January 2018. The Kremlin, however, continues to deny that civilians were killed by Russian air strikes.
While Russia officially claims to engage only in air strikes, there is evidence that it has also deployed troops on the ground, although privately contracted soldiers through third parties based in outside of Russia. However, it seems that these privately contracted soldiers all receive the same benefits as regular soldiers of the Russian army.
Russia's unwavering support for the Assad regime also manifested itself at the UN where it vetoed all Security Council resolutions expressing concern for the Syrian Republic and condemning, inter alia, the use of chemical weapons by Syrian government forces against its own government. people.
It was only after long negotiations at the UN that the Russians cleared aid convoys to access eastern Ghouta, which government forces bombed during a February to March 2018. The total number of deaths was estimated at 1,700. Later, they allowed about 994 people to leave eastern Ghouta by bus to get to Idlib, held by the rebels.
Finally, the involvement of Russia in Syria has allowed them to develop and test their new arsenal of weapons, which they would like to sell most – and in this case, to the countries of Middle East. Russia has reportedly tested more than 200 different types of military equipment in Syria, including tanks and planes. In 2017, Putin has boasted that Russia's arms sales in 2016 exceeded $ 5 billion.
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