Syrien: Teil-Abzug russischer Truppen? (mit Nachträgen)

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Bislang gibt es nur sehr vage Meldungen: Der russische Präsident Wladimir Putin habe einen Rückzug eines Teils der russischen Truppen in Syrien angeordnet, melden mehrere Nachrichtenagenturen, unter anderem Reuters (s. oben) und Bloomberg:

Putin Orders ‘Main Part’ of Russian Army to Start Syria Pullout
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, told him of decision to pull out, says spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.

TASS gibt es dazu inzwischen auch auf Englisch:

Putin orders Russian defense minister to begin withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria from March 15.

The Russian president said he hopes the start of the withdrawal of Russian troops will become a good motivation for launching negotiations between political forces of that country and instructed the foreign minister to intensify Russia’s participation in organization of peace process in Syria.

Mal sehen, was das bedeutet und was sich daraus entwickelt.

Nachtrag: Für die Sammlung noch einige Originalquellen:

Vom Kreml veröffentlichte Abschrift (in englischer Sprache) des Treffens von Putin mit Außenminister Sergej Lawrow und Verteidigungsminister Sergei Schoigu:

Meeting with Sergei Lavrov and Sergei Shoigu

Vladimir Putin held a working meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to address issues of settling the Syrian crisis. The President gave an order to begin withdrawing the main part of Russian troops from the Syrian Arab Republic on March 15.

The President of Russia also instructed the Foreign Ministry to intensify the Russian Federation’s participation in organising the peace process to resolve the Syrian problem.

* * *

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, I have invited you here so we can once again assess the situation concerning settlement of the Syrian crisis. I propose that the Defence Minister starts with his assessment of what is happening there. Please, go ahead.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu: Mr President,

In accordance with your instructions, we began the Syrian operation on September 30. In total, over the course of this time, we have carried out more than 9,000 flights, and for the first time, we carried out massive strikes with dispersed weaponry at a distance of over 1,500 kilometres using both air- and sea-based missiles.

In this time, as a result of the strikes, we were able to significantly hinder, and in some places completely stop resource support for terrorists by intercepting hydrocarbon trade, blocking the main routes for hydrocarbon supplies to Turkey and the main routes for weapons and ammunition deliveries to militants.

The terrorists have been driven out of Latakia, communication has been restored with Aleppo, Palmyra is under siege and combat actions are being continued to liberate it from unlawful armed groups. We have cleared most of the provinces of Hama and Homs, unblocked the Kweires airbase, which was blocked for more than three years, established control over oil and gas fields near Palmyra: three large fields that, as of now, have begun to operate steadily.

Over 2,000 criminals who have come from Russia have been eliminated in Syria’s territory, including 17 field commanders. Our air force destroyed 209 facilities for producing, processing and transferring fuel, as well as 2,912 sources of petroleum product delivery.

In total, with support from our air force, the Syrian troops liberated 400 towns and over 10,000 square kilometres of territory. We have had a significant turning point in the fight against terrorism.

Organisations involved in this work as a result of the negotiation process have begun taking active steps to ensure the ceasefire (there are currently 42 such organisations); plus, an additional 40 towns that joined the ceasefire.

There is monitoring over observance of the ceasefire; a fairly large number of unmanned aerial vehicles – over 70 – are being used for this purpose, as are all means of gathering intelligence, including electronic intelligence and our satellite constellation.

I could continue this report, Mr President, but I think these are the main outcomes of our work at this time.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

Mr Lavrov, how is the peace process proceeding?

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: Mr President, in addition to the results that were achieved directly on the ground during military actions to repress terrorists, our Aerospace Forces operation helped create conditions for the political process.

We have consistently advocated establishing an intra-Syrian dialogue in accordance with the decisions made in 2012. Our suggestions were met with a lack of will on the part of all our partners working on this process. But since the start of the operations by our Aerospace Forces, the situation began to change.

The initial steps were gradually taken, first based on your talks with US President Barack Obama: the Russian-American group began to prepare a broader process for external support for intra-Syrian talks. An international Syria support group was created, which included all the key players without exception, including regional powers. Agreements on the parameters for the Syrian political process achieved in this group were approved by two UN Security Council resolutions, which confirmed the three-way process of ceasing hostilities, broadening access to humanitarian supplies in previously besieged areas and starting intra-Syrian talks.

Thanks to these decisions, including your latest agreement with President Obama, today intra-Syrian talks between the Government delegation and delegations of multiple opposition groups have finally been launched in Geneva. The work is difficult and we have yet to see how all these groups can gather at one table. For now, UN representatives are working individually with each of them, but the process has begun, and it is in our common interest to make it sustainable and irreversible.

Vladimir Putin: In a short period, Russia has created a military group that is small in number but quite effective – one consisting of different types of forces and diverse capabilities. These include space reconnaissance, drones, combat missile strike systems in fighter aircraft and assault aircraft. They also include Navy forces that used the most modern weaponry from two seas – the Mediterranean and the Caspian – while working from surface ships and submarines. We created a powerful air defence system, including the most modern S-400 complexes.

The truly effective work by our troops has created conditions to start the peace process. I feel that the objectives set before the Defence Ministry and the Russian Armed Forces in the Syrian Arab Republic have generally been fulfilled.

With participation by Russian troops and Russian military grouping, the Syrian troops and Syrian patriotic forces, we were able to radically change the situation in fighting international terrorism and take initiative in nearly all areas to create the conditions for the start of a peace process, as I said.

At the same time, our service members – soldiers and officers – have demonstrated professionalism, teamwork and the ability to organise this military work far from their territory, without a common border with the seat of war. They operated effectively over the course of nearly half a year, bringing the necessary supplies and guidance to the military operations.

I feel that the objective set before the Defence Ministry and the Armed Forces is generally fulfilled, so I order the Defence Ministry to begin withdrawing the main part of our military group from the Syrian Arab Republic beginning tomorrow. I ask the Foreign Ministry to intensify the Russian Federation’s participation in organising the peace process to resolve Syria’s problems.

At the same time, our base points – our maritime base in Tartus and our aviation base at the Hmeymim airbase – will function as before. They must be protected securely from land, sea and air.

This part of our military group was located in Syria over the course of many previous years, and today, it must continue to fulfil the highly important function of monitoring the ceasefire and creating conditions for the peace process.

I hope that today’s decision will be a good signal for all conflicting sides. I hope that this will significantly lift the level of trust between all participants in the Syrian peace process and promote resolving the Syrian issue via peaceful means.

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Mitteilung des Kreml zum Telefonat Putins mit dem syrischen Präsidenten Baschar Assad:

Telephone conversation with President of Syria Bashar al-Assad

At Russia’s initiative, Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of Syria Bashar al-Assad.
March 14, 2016
20:40

The two presidents discussed the implementation of the joint statement by Russia and the United States, in their capacity as co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group, on cessation of hostilities in Syria. They share the view that the ceasefire has made possible a dramatic reduction in the bloodshed in the country and improved the humanitarian situation. It has also made it possible to put in place conditions for starting a peace process under UN aegis.

The two leaders noted that the operations conducted by Russia’s Aerospace Forces have brought about a real turnabout in the fight against the terrorists in Syria, throwing their infrastructure into disarray and causing them substantial damage.

In this context, Mr Putin said that Russia’s Armed Forces have fulfilled their main mission in Syria and a timetable for the withdrawal of the Aerospace Forces’ main air grouping has been agreed. Russia will maintain an aviation support centre in Syria in order to monitor compliance with the ceasefire.

The President of Syria noted the professionalism, courage and heroism of the Russian service personnel who took part in the military operations, and expressed his profound gratitude to Russia for providing such substantial help in fighting terrorism and providing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population.

Mr al-Assad said that he is ready to help organise a political settlement in the country as soon as possible. The two presidents expressed the hope that the full-format talks between Syrian Government officials and opposition representatives under UN aegis in Geneva will produce concrete results.

Mitteilung des Weißen Hauses zum Telefonat Putins mit US-Präsident Barack Obama

March 14, 2016
Readout of the President’s Call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia

President Obama spoke today by phone with President Vladimir Putin of Russia to discuss progress on the implementation of the nationwide Cessation of Hostilities between the Syrian regime and its allies on the one hand and the armed opposition on the other. They discussed President Putin’s announcement today of a partial withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria and next steps required to fully implement the cessation of hostilities with the goal of advancing the political negotiations on resolution of the conflict. President Obama welcomed the much-needed reduction in violence since the beginning of the cessation, but stressed that continuing offensive actions by Syrian regime forces risk undermining both the Cessation of Hostilities and the UN-led political process. The President also noted some progress on humanitarian assistance efforts in Syria but emphasized the need for regime forces to allow unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance delivery to the agreed-upon locations, notably Daraya. The President underscored that a political transition is required to end the violence in Syria.

On Ukraine, President Obama emphasized the need for combined Russian-separatist forces to implement the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and to provide monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) with unfettered access to separatist-controlled areas, including the Russia-Ukraine border.

Die Mitteilung des Kreml zu diesem Telefonat:

Telephone conversation with US President Barack Obama

Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the United States of America Barack Obama.
March 15, 2016
00:20

The two leaders exchanged assessments of the course of implementing the statement by Russia and the United States, as co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group, on cessation of hostilities in Syria. The leaders stated that the Russian-US initiative, supported by UN Security Council Resolution 2268, has allowed for a sharp decrease in the scale of bloodshed on Syrian land.

The President of Russia told the President of the United States that after fulfilling the primary objectives set before the Russian Armed Forces in the fight against international terrorism, a decision was made to withdraw the main part of the Russian Aerospace Forces troops. This will certainly serve as a good signal to all conflicting sides and create conditions for the start of a true peace process.

The heads of state noted the importance of full coordination of efforts between representatives of Russia and the United States, including on military matters, to preserve the truce and ensure provide humanitarian assistance to besieged towns, as well as effectively fighting terrorist groups.