Putin Withdrawing Russian Forces from Syria

Russia’s president surprised the world by announcing a withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria. Analysts are taking a wait-and-see approach after Russia’s previous announcement that it was tackling extremist groups in Syria and instead aided the Syrian government with attacks on US-backed rebel groups. Russia is expected to withdraw enough troops to pressure the al-Bassad regime into entering a peace agreement and leave enough to hold off troops from Saudi Arabia aiding rebels. Max Fisher describes Russia’s narrow goals for Vox: “To prevent Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad from collapsing” and “To win Russia some political leverage on peace talks.” He adds that “Russia has its seat at the table, which it can use to guarantee that it retains its military bases in Syria and its high-level contacts in the Syrian military.” Russia, by intervening in Syria and withdrawing during a ceasefire, tried to raise its profile as an international power and demonstrate control over Assad, a difficult ally. Fisher concludes that such moves won’t distract the West into forgiving and forgetting Russia’s takeover of Crimea or intervention in Ukraine. – YaleGlobal