President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on Bashar al-Assad’s departure from Syria over the weekend as rebel forces took control of the country.
Assad’s regime had been supported by Russia, who has two military bases on the coast of Syria.
President Trump claimed Russia “lost all interest” in Syria due to the large pull on resources being caused by their war with Ukraine.
Syrian rebels had been making significant advances over the last couple of weeks, taking over cities like Homs, Hama, and Aleppo.
“There was no reason for Russia to be there in the first place,” said Trump. “They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead, in a war that should never have started, and could go on forever.”
Trump continued, encouraging Russia to negotiate a ceasefire with Ukraine as he claimed “Zelensky and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness.”
Trump directly referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his call for peace, stating that it was Putin’s “time to act” to end a war where “too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse.”
Earlier this year, following meetings with Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky, Trump promised to rapidly end the war in Ukraine once he becomes president.
“Just had a great meeting with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. If I’m elected President, the war with Russia and Ukraine will end quickly,” said Trump. “If not, that war will never end, and will phase into WORLD WAR III. Comrade Harris will NEVER BE ABLE TO END THE WAR, and hasn’t.”
Meanwhile, the US has been executing air strikes against Islamic State (ISIS) camps in central Syria to ensure the departure of Assad is not capitalized upon by terrorist groups.
The latest strikes follow a chain of recent efforts by the US military to weaken ISIS’ Syrian presence.
According to US Central Command (CENTCOM), the strikes hit over 75 targets using multiple U.S. Air Force assets, including B-52s, F-15s, and A-10s.
"There should be no doubt - we will not allow ISIS to reconstitute and take advantage of the current situation in Syria," said General Michael Erik Kurilla, "All organizations in Syria should know that we will hold them accountable if they partner with or support ISIS in any way."
