Peskov: decision to withdraw troops from Syria not associated with Assad's position

Russia’s decision to withdraw part of its military contingent from Syria does not mean that Moscow does not like Syrian President Bashar Assad’s position, the presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Peskov refrained from commenting on whether a resumption of the Russian air operation in Syria might be possible. "Those would be hypothetical speculations," he said.

Answering whether Putin’s decision means that Russian aircraft will no longer deliver airstrikes on militant positions in Syria, Peskov redirected this question to the Russian Defense Ministry.

"This question should be addressed to the Defense Ministry. Now the number of sorties has actually dropped by two-thirds. The presence of such a contingent is just not required,"

According to Peskov, this was the decision of the president of Russia, not an issue of talks with foreign colleagues.

"This is the decision of the Russian president and commander-in-chief based on data on the results of the work of the Russian contingent in Syria," the Kremlin spokesman said.

He also said that personnel will remain at two Russian military facilities in Syria. "Let’s not forget that two facilities - Khmeymim and Tartus - will remain and therefore they cannot exist without personnel," TASS cited the President's press secretary as saying.

According to him, the Kremlin sees its main task in Syria to do its utmost to promote a peace settlement process in Syria.

"The main task now is to take every measure to promote a peace settlement and the talks that have begun in Geneva," Peskov stressed.