Kremlin: Putin Did Not Ask Assad to Step Down

The spokesperson for the Kremlin denied on Friday, January 22, a report by the Financial Times regarding a request from Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, for his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad to step down from power. Two Western intelligence sources told the Financial Times that Vladimir Putin had asked Bashar Assad to resign by the end of 2015. According to this report, Putin's message was conveyed to Assad by General Igor Sergun, head of Russian military intelligence. These unnamed intelligence sources informed the Financial Times that General Sergun delivered Putin's request during a visit to Damascus and a meeting with Assad. However, Assad reacted angrily to this proposal, stating that there would be no future for Moscow-Damascus relations after him. According to Itar-Tass, the Kremlin spokesperson responded to the Financial Times report by stating, 'No, this is not true.' Russia is considered one of the main supporters of Bashar Assad's regime, and currently, its air forces are attacking positions of Assad's opponents in Syria. Earlier, in late December, a senior Western diplomat stated that Russian leadership had concluded that Bashar Assad should step down from power. This senior diplomat noted that the Russians had reached this point and accepted that Assad should leave at the end of the transitional period, 'but they are still not ready to announce this publicly.' The United States and Western countries consider Bashar Assad to be a key factor in the escalation of the current civil war in Syria and argue that he must step down to achieve a political solution. Russia and Iran, the two main supporters of Bashar Assad's regime, have so far opposed this demand. According to the United Nations, at least 300,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Syria since the protests began, and millions have been displaced.