Russland bleibt bei Unterstützung für „legitime Regierung“ in Syrien

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Vor seiner für (den morgigen) Montag erwarteten Rede zur Situation in Syrien und zum Kampf gegen ISIS hat Russlands Präsident Wladimir Putin in einem Interview noch einmal klar gemacht, was für ihn Eckpunkte der Politik sind: Russland wird die Regierung des syrischen Präsidenten Bashar el-Assad als die legitime Regierung Syriens weiter unterstützen – und wirbt zugleich für eine Plattform gegen die (ISIS)-Terroristen, in der es eine wichtige Rolle spielen will.

Aus der teilweisen Abschrift des Interviews mit dem US-Sender CBS News, die der Kreml auf Englisch veröffentlichte:

CHARLIE ROSE: We are expecting you to speak about the threat of the Islamic State and your presence in Syria that is related to that. What is the purpose of your presence in Syria and how does that relate to the challenge of ISIS?
VLADIMIR PUTIN: I believe, I am pretty certain that virtually everyone speaking from the United Nations platform is going to talk about the fight, about the need to fight terrorism, and I cannot avoid this issue, either. This is quite understandable because it is a serious common threat to all of us; it is a common challenge to all of us. Today, terrorism threatens a great number of states, a great number of people – hundreds of thousands, millions of people suffer from its criminal activity. And we all face the task of joining our efforts in the fight against this common evil.
Concerning our, as you put it, presence in Syria, as of today it has taken the form of weapons supplies to the Syrian government, personnel training and humanitarian aid to the Syrian people. We act based on the United Nations Charter, i.e. the fundamental principles of modern international law, according to which this or that type of aid, including military assistance, can and must be provided exclusively to legitimate government of one country or another, upon its consent or request, or upon the decision of the United Nations Security Council. In this particular case, we act based on the request from the Syrian government to provide military and technical assistance, which we deliver under entirely legal international contracts.

CHARLIE ROSE: The Secretary of State John Kerry said that the United States welcomed your assistance in the fight against the Islamic State. Others have taken note of the fact that these are combat planes and manpad systems that are being used against the conventional army, not extremists.
VLADIMIR PUTIN: There is only one regular army there. That is the army of Syrian President al-Assad. And he is confronted with what some of our international partners interpret as an opposition. In reality, al-Assad’s army is fighting against terrorist organisations. You should know better than me about the hearings that have just taken place in the United States Senate, where the military and Pentagon representatives, if I am not mistaken, reported to the senators about what the United States had done to train the combat part of the opposition forces. The initial aim was to train between 5,000 and 6,000 fighters, and then 12,000 more. It turns out that only 60 of these fighters have been properly trained, and as few as 4 or 5 people actually carry weapons, while the rest of them have deserted with the American weapons to join ISIS. That is the first point.
Secondly, in my opinion, provision of military support to illegal structures runs counter to the principles of modern international law and the United Nations Charter. We have been providing assistance to legitimate government entities only.
In this connection, we have proposed cooperation to the countries in the region, we are trying to establish some kind of coordination framework. I personally informed the President of Turkey, the King of Jordan, as well as the Saudi Arabia of that, we informed the United States too, and Mr Kerry, whom you have mentioned, had an in-depth conversation with our Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on this matter; besides, our military stay in touch and discuss this issue. We would welcome a common platform for collective action against the terrorists.

Bereits vor einer Woche war öffentlich geworden, dass Russland eine größere Zahl von Kampfflugzeugen nach Syrien verlegt hat – vor allem Erdkampfflugzeuge der Typen Su-24 und Su-25, außerdem Su-30 Mehrzweckkampfflugzeuge.

Eine Analyse der Flugzeugmuster und ihrer Fähigkeiten hat der Bloggerkollege vom Aviationist hier und hier online gestellt.

Außerdem ist in den Berichten von (einigen) Kampfpanzern und Kampfhubschraubern die Rede, zudem von bis zu 2.000 russischen Soldaten (wobei unklar ist, wie viele bereits in Syrien sind). Das ist der derzeitige – militärische – Hintergrund, vor dem Putin seine politischen Vorstellungen für den internationalen Umgang mit dem Bürgerkrieg in Syrien und dem Kampf gegen ISIS entwickeln wird. Und mit denen der Westen dann umgehen muss.

(Auf eine Zusammenstellung der politischen und diplomatischen Debatte verzichte ich an dieser Stelle – es wäre vor Putins Rede wenig sinnvoll, diese Diskussionslinien einschließlich der deutschen, die inzwischen Assad als möglichen Gesprächspartner zu akzeptieren scheint, noch mal nachzuzeichnen. Dennoch zum Nachlesen: Eine Analyse beim Guardian. Und der wichtige Hinweis auf eine Kooperation des Iraks, Irans und Syriens mit Russland beim Austausch von Informationen im Kampf gegen ISIS.)

(Foto: kremlin.ru)