Russia President Vladimir Putin is applauding President Trump's sudden, unilateral decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.
He praised the president's move during his annual four-hour press conference held Thursday in Moscow but also questioned whether Trump will follow through.
NYT:
Mr. Putin’s praise came a day after Mr. Trump said he was ordering the withdrawal because the United States military had achieved its goal of defeating the Islamic State militant group in Syria. Given the unfinished business on the ground in Syria, however, the move was a surprise to many, including some senior presidential military and diplomatic advisers in Washington.
The decision has been criticized, even among Republicans, as abandoning Kurdish allies in the face of a hostile Turkey and a still dangerous Islamic State, as well as leaving Syria open territory for the geopolitical ambitions of Russia and Iran.
(...)
Mr. Putin said he broadly agreed that the Islamic State, sometimes known by the acronyms ISIL or ISIS, had been defeated in Syria, although analysts estimate it still commands a force of 15,000 fighters. “With regards to the victory over ISIL, on the whole I agree with the president of the United States.”
The Russian leader expressed skepticism, however, that the United States would follow through on Mr. Trump’s pronouncement, noting that the government had similarly pledged to pull out of Afghanistan by 2014 but still stations forces there.
“We don’t see any signs yet of the withdrawal of U.S. troops,” he said. “How long has the United States been in Afghanistan? Seventeen years? And almost every year they say they’re pulling out their troops.”
Mr. Putin reiterated the Kremlin position that American forces have no legal right to be in Syria, in that they were neither invited by Damascus, as the Russian forces were, nor authorized by the United Nations Security Council.
The American decision to withdraw represented at least a tactical victory for Mr. Putin, who intervened in Syria in September 2015 with the primary goal of re-establishing Russia as a power to be reckoned with in the Middle East, analysts said.
(...)
For now, however, Mr. Putin savored the moment, using the news conference to hit on a favorite theme: that Russia is a pocket of stability compared with the disintegrating West. He said the Anglo-Saxon world was undergoing “tectonic shifts” with both the election of Mr. Trump and the vote by Britons to leave the European Union, or Brexit.
“Trump has won, which is an obvious fact, but not everyone is willing to accept this victory,” Mr. Putin said. “They have been doing their utmost to delegitimize their president.”
Putin addressed a variety of issues related to relations with the U.S., and while he generally was critical, he did make a point of defending President Trump.
Trump and Putin had been due to meet at the beginning of the month at the G20 summit in Argentina, but the U.S. president cancelled the meeting, citing Russia’s seizure of the sailors of 3 Ukrainian navy ships close to Crimea.
Putin said he still wished to meet with Trump.
“Will there be a meeting? I don’t know. I have said many times that I am ready to meet,” he said, saying the two needed to discuss North Korea, Syria, Afghanistan and other issues.
Putin also attacked Trump’s critics, saying they showed “disrespect for voters.”
“Trump won -- it’s an obvious fact, but they don’t want to recognize that.
It’s already disrespect to voters. They don’t want to recognize the election. They are doing everything to discredit him,” Putin said. “Their values are collapsing.”
(...)
Putin evaded a question on Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as “Putin’s Chef”, the culinary magnate accused of being behind the Russian troll factory that sought to influence the U.S. 2016 elections.
“All my chefs are members of the Federal Protection Service,” Putin said, referring to his personal presidential security service. “I don’t have any other chefs,” he said.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller has indicted Prigozhin for his role in trying to meddle in the 2016 election.
(...)
Putin accused the U.S. of increasing the risk of nuclear war by threatening to withdraw from a key arms control agreement.
“We are essentially witnessing the breakdown of the international arms control order,” Putin said. He added that he was alarmed that the U.S. has shown little sign of wishing to negotiate the New START treaty, and criticized the Trump administration’s threat to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty.
When a Russian state TV reporter began by telling Putin that everyone used to fear nuclear war, Putin interrupted and joked, “And you don’t anymore,” before making a lengthy warning that countries had ceased to take the threat of nuclear conflict seriously.
“Are the Americans not interested, do they not need them?” Putin said of the treaties. “Ok, we’ll survive and will ensure our own security, which we know how to do. But in general, this is very bad for humankind because it takes us closer to a dangerous threshold.”
Putin Welcomes U.S. Withdrawal From Syria as ‘Correct’ (NYT)