The Kremlin said on Monday, that President Vladimir Putin had made the decision to grant asylum in Russia to Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted as Syria’s president by a lightning rebel offensive.
Assad’s fall is a big blow to Iran and Russia, which had intervened in Syria’s 13-year civil war to try to shore up his rule despite Western demands that he leave power.
Russian news agencies cited an unidentified Kremlin source on Sunday as saying Assad was in Moscow with his family.
“Such decisions cannot be made without the head of state. This is his decision,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters but gave no further details on Assad’s movements.
Assad’s departure removes a bastion from which Iran and Russia wielded power across the Middle East. Assad’s father, Hafez al-Assad, sided with the Soviet Union to try to achieve parity with US-backed Israel.
The Kremlin said Syria was subject to “extreme instability” and it was too early to speak about the future of Russian bases in the country.
“We are in dialogue with Ankara and other regional states, including on Syrian affairs,” Peskov said.
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