BEIRUT (AP) – Russia’s military intervention in Syria has deepened the sense that President Bashar Assad may survive the country’s disastrous civil war, and his surprise visit to Moscow – a first foray out in nearly five years – underscores how emboldened the Syrian leader has become.
The show of force by the two allies is a challenge to a U.S. administration whose response on Syria is widely seen in the region as inconsistent and chaotic.
Whether it is also part of a quiet Russian push to engineer a political transition in Syria on President Vladimir Putin’s terms is yet to be seen. Such a scenario would do wonders for the Russian leader’s evident ambition to seize center stage in world affairs.
Hours after Assad’s visit was announced Wednesday, Russia confirmed Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had agreed to meet in Vienna on Friday with their Turkish and Saudi counterparts to discuss the Syrian conflict.
Either way, the visit shows remarkable resilience that Assad was able to leave Syria without fear of a coup or arrest after presiding over a rare descent into hell: Half the country’s population has been displaced, at least a quarter million people have been killed and Islamic State militants are in control of large swaths of territory.