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Russian Report Considers Assad a ‘Burden'

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian soldier takes selfies pictures as Russian military vehicle is seen in convoy during re-opening the road between Homs and Hama in Rastan,Syria June 6, 2018. REUTERS/ Omar Sanadiki
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian soldier takes selfies pictures as Russian military vehicle is seen in convoy during re-opening the road between Homs and Hama in Rastan,Syria June 6, 2018. REUTERS/ Omar Sanadiki
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Russian Report Considers Assad a ‘Burden'

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian soldier takes selfies pictures as Russian military vehicle is seen in convoy during re-opening the road between Homs and Hama in Rastan,Syria June 6, 2018. REUTERS/ Omar Sanadiki
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian soldier takes selfies pictures as Russian military vehicle is seen in convoy during re-opening the road between Homs and Hama in Rastan,Syria June 6, 2018. REUTERS/ Omar Sanadiki

A report by the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) said Moscow has become more serious about making changes in Syria because protecting President Bashar Assad has become a burden.

The report hints at the possibility that Russia, Turkey and Iran reach a consensus to remove Assad, and establish a ceasefire in exchange for forming a transitional government that includes the opposition, members of the regime and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Russia’s clear impatience with Assad emerged two weeks ago following vague and indirect messages urging Damascus to change its behavior.

The RIAC is led by former Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and is known to be close to the decision-makers in the Russian government.

The report said that since the beginning of its military intervention in Syria, Moscow has been keen to avoid being presented as the defender of Assad.

It added that in negotiations it has stressed that “the Syrian people will decide whether or not Assad will remain in power”.

Earlier this week, a former Russian ambassador, Alexander Aksenyonok wrote: “It is becoming increasingly obvious that the [Assad] regime is reluctant or unable to develop a system of government that can mitigate corruption and crime.”

Russia’s TASS news agency said Russia is suspecting that Assad is not only no longer able to lead the country, but that the head of the Syrian regime is dragging Moscow towards a scenario similar to the Afghan war, which is a very disconcerting possibility for Russia.

The news agency said Moscow is working on two scenarios: The first sees forces present in Syria accepting each other’s scope of influence.

As a result, Syria would remain divided into a region protected by Tehran and Moscow, the opposition region supported by Turkey, and the East Euphrates supported by Washington and the SDF.

As for the second option, TASS explained it requires a complete withdrawal of all foreign forces and the unification of the country after achieving a political transformation in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

The news agency considered that this option is less costly for all parties.

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Arab World

Israeli Military Sets up Roadblocks in Southern Lebanon, Announces It Won’t Withdraw by Deadline

This picture taken from Lebanon's southern village of Shaqra on January 25, 2025 shows an Israeli army Merkava main battle tank moving along a road at the entrance of the village of Houla along the border with Israel in south Lebanon. (AFP)
This picture taken from Lebanon's southern village of Shaqra on January 25, 2025 shows an Israeli army Merkava main battle tank moving along a road at the entrance of the village of Houla along the border with Israel in south Lebanon. (AFP)
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Israeli Military Sets up Roadblocks in Southern Lebanon, Announces It Won’t Withdraw by Deadline

This picture taken from Lebanon's southern village of Shaqra on January 25, 2025 shows an Israeli army Merkava main battle tank moving along a road at the entrance of the village of Houla along the border with Israel in south Lebanon. (AFP)
This picture taken from Lebanon's southern village of Shaqra on January 25, 2025 shows an Israeli army Merkava main battle tank moving along a road at the entrance of the village of Houla along the border with Israel in south Lebanon. (AFP)

Israel's military Saturday set up roadblocks across border towns and roads in a strategic valley in southern Lebanon, a day before the deadline for it to withdraw from the area under an agreement that halted its war with the Hezbollah group.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, confirmed that it will not complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon by Sunday as outlined in the ceasefire agreement.

The deal that went into effect in late November gave both sides 60 days to remove their forces from southern Lebanon and for the Lebanese army to move in and secure the area, along with UN peacekeepers. Israel says Hezbollah and the Lebanese army haven’t met their obligations, while Lebanon accuses the Israeli army of hindering the Lebanese military from taking over.

In a statement Saturday, the Israeli military said the agreement is progressing. But it said in some sectors, “it has been delayed and will take slightly longer.”

The Lebanese military has said that they had deployed in areas following Israeli troops’ withdrawal, and in a statement Saturday accused the Israeli military of “procrastinating” in their withdrawal from other areas.

Washington appears to support an extension of this withdrawal phase.

While Lebanese army soldiers are dispersed across the south’s western sector, Israeli troops remained in control of most of the southeastern sector.

Members of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said Israeli tanks and bulldozers have unexpectedly moved and set up several roadblocks, apparently in an attempt to prevent displaced Lebanese people trying to return to their villages.

In Mais al-Jabal, peacekeepers from a Nepalese battalion watched in their position along the UN-mandated Blue Line as an Israeli jet flew overhead following the sound of what they said was an Israeli controlled demolition of a building.

There are no residents left in that town and the vast majority of the buildings seen by Associated Press journalists were reduced to rubble or pancaked after intense Israeli shelling and airstrikes, following by clashes during its ground invasion. The few that stood had their walls blown out and are badly damaged. The piles of rubble and debris on the road make it impossible for civilian cars to enter the town that once was home to a few thousand people.

The scene is similar in neighboring towns, including Blida and Aitaroun, where almost all the structures have collapsed into mounds of rubble and no residents have returned.

The peacekeepers tried to appeal for permission to move across the roadblocks, but were not authorized to do so. An AP crew that had joined UNIFIL on patrol was stranded as a result.

“There is still a lot of IDF (Israeli army) activity going on in the area,” said Maj. Dinesh Bhandari of UNIFIL’s Nepalese battalion in Mays al-Jabal overlooking the Blue Line. “We are waiting for the deconfliction and then we will support to deploy the LAF (Lebanese army) in that position.”

When asked about weapons belonging to Hezbollah, Bhandari said they had found caches of weapons, munitions and mines in some structures during their patrols.

Israel says it has been taking down the remaining infrastructure left by the Hezbollah, which has a strong military and political presence in the south. Israel since its ground incursion into Lebanon said it also targeted a tunnel network, and has conducted large-scale demolition of buildings in a handful of border towns.

Lebanese officials have complained that the Israeli military is also destroying civilian homes and infrastructure.

In a call with French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun pointed to the “destruction of villages adjacent to the southern border and the bulldozing of lands, which will hinder the return of residents to their areas,” according to the state-run National News Agency. France, along with the US, is a guarantor of the ceasefire deal.

Some 112,000 Lebanese remain displaced, out of over 1 million displaced during the war. Large swaths of southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as Beirut’s southern suburbs were destroyed in Israeli bombardments.