US President Joe Biden said Sunday that the sudden collapse of the Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad is a “fundamental act of justice” after decades of repression, but it was “a moment of risk and uncertainty” for the Middle East.
Biden spoke at the White House hours after rebel groups completed a takeover of the country following more than a dozen years of violent civil war and decades of leadership by Assad and his family.
Biden said the United States was monitoring reports of the whereabouts of Assad, with Russian state media saying he had fled to Moscow and received asylum from his longtime ally.
The outgoing Biden administration and President-elect Donald Trump were working to make sense of new threats and opportunities across the Middle East.
Biden credited action by the US and its allies for weakening Syria’s backers – Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. He said “for the first time” that they could no longer defend Assad’s grip on power.