TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Syrian President Bashar Al Assad in an interview with the news agency RIA on Thursday, March 16, 2023, suggested that Russia’s military presence in Syria would be permanent. Assad conveyed this hope after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the capital Moscow the day before.
According to Assad, his party will welcome a proposal from Russia if it wants to create a number of new military bases and increase the number of its military personnel in Syria. He firmly believes that Russia’s presence in Syria is a good thing so that it should not be temporary or limited to fighting terrorism.
“The war on terrorism is the topic of the day, but it is temporary. The Russian military presence in any country should not be temporary,” said Assad.
Assad highlighted the current problem is a balance problem at the international level. For him, the presence of Russia in Syriait is important to balance the power in the world as a country located in the Mediterranean sea.
“We firmly believe that if Russia has a desire to expand its military bases or increase the number of its military personnel, then this is only a technical or logistical matter. If there really is such a desire, then we believe that the expansion of Russia’s military presence in Syria is a good thing,” Assad said in an interview with RIA.
Unfortunately the topic of the military base (addition) was not discussed by the two sides from a military point of view. Not only that, announcing such cooperation is rare because of the secrecy inherent in military matters. Assad only emphasized that Russia and Syria have the same point of view in political and military matters.
