US President Joe Biden said on 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 after more than a dozen years of violent civil war and decades of leadership by Assad and his family. Biden said the United States was unsure of Assad’s whereabouts, but was monitoring reports he was seeking refuge in Moscow.
The outgoing Biden administration and US 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.
“Our approach has shifted the balance of power in the Middle East,” Biden said, after a meeting with his national security team at the White House.
Trump said on Sunday that Assad had fled his country, which his family had ruled for decades, because close ally Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, “was not interested in protecting him any longer”.
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