Putin has personally approved granting asylum to Bashar al-Assad in Moscow. Following allegations that the former Syrian president and his family had arrived in Russia after armed rebels overran Damascus, this information was made public on Monday, December 9.
Putin has personally approved : In a press briefing, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Putin and Assad would not be meeting. He added that he was unable to remark on Assad’s current location. Peskov responded that only the president of state has the authority to decide how Assad was given political asylum. He made this choice.
Assad and his family are in Moscow, according to confirmation from Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s top diplomat, on Monday morning. “This shows Russia’s dedication to its allies in difficult times,” he said.
He went on to say that, in contrast to the US, Russia never betrays its allies in trying times. Russian media had earlier Sunday claimed that Assad and his family had been given sanctuary in Russia “for humanitarian reasons.”
According to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Assad agreed to step down following talks with armed opposition organizations and gave officials instructions to secure a “peaceful transfer of power.”
