Putin says Syria army in ‘strong position’

Russian President Vladimir Putin

 

Russian president Vladimir Putin has said the Syrian army is able to carry out “serious offensive operations” despite a drawdown of Russian forces.
He said Syrian government forces had achieved some recent important victories, including in Palmyra.

Russia began its campaign of air strikes in Syria last September in support of the government.
Speaking in an annual televised phone-in, he also said he backed a plan for armed monitors in east Ukraine.
He said Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko had recently proposed stepping up the presence of monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on the separation line between government and separatist forces, and arming them to enforce a ceasefire.
“I think that is the right proposal,” he said. “We support it.”
Mr Putin also said Turkey was still a friendly nation and that it just had “problems with some politicians who have behaved improperly”. Relations between the two soured when Turkey shot down a Russian warplane on its border with Syria in November.
The Russian leader praised US President Barack Obama for having the “courage” to admit to failures over the US intervention in Libya following the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.