A Russian army Sukhoi Su-25 jet takes part in a joint military exercise with Syrian Armed Forces
MOSCOW - Vladimir Putin said on Thursday (March 17) that Russia's military success in Syria had allowed him to order a partial draw down of forces, but stressed the Kremlin could scale up its presence again within hours and would continue to carry out air strikes there.
Speaking in the Kremlin three days after he ordered Russian forces to partially withdraw from Syria, the Russian president said the smaller strike force he had left behind in his closest Middle East ally was big enough to help forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad keep advancing.
"We have undertaken enormous work to enhance the legal power and statehood of Syria - I said that in my speech on the 70th anniversary of the United Nations - we have enhanced its armed forces. And today they are able not only to curb terrorists but maintain successful offensives against them. The Syrian army has gained the strategic initiative and continues to clear its land of terrorist gangs. Most importantly - we have created conditions for the start of the peace process," said Putin.
He sought to dampen any speculation of a rift with Damascus, saying Moscow's partial withdrawal from Syria had been agreed with Assad.
"The decision to withdraw a large part of our servicemen and equipment was agreed with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who was informed about our plans in advance and supported them," said Putin.
Although he said his preference was for a negotiated diplomatic solution to the conflict with those opposition groups who had signed up to a ceasefire, he made clear Russia could easily scale up its forces again.
"And of course if necessary, literally within a few hours, Russia can build up its contingent in the region to a size proportionate to the situation developing there and use the entire arsenal of capabilities at our disposal," said Putin.
Russian forces would continue to carry out air strikes against Islamic State (IS), Al Nusra and other terrorist groups, he added, and would keep providing a wide range of aid to Syrian government forces.
"The fight against terrorist organizations seen as such by the U.N. will continue although Syrian government forces will not carry out combat actions against armed groups of the Syrian opposition which have confirmed their readiness for a ceasefire," said Putin.
In a comment that may be perceived to have been aimed at Ankara, Putin said that air defence systems would remain in Syria and would be used to protect Russian troops. Russia and Turkey are on opposing sides of the five-year-old conflict in Syria. Relations between the two countries nosedived after the downing of the Russian plane, which President Vladimir Putin called a "stab in the back".
Turkish President Erdogan has not apologised over the incident, saying the Russian jet crossed into Turkish airspace and ignored repeated warnings. Russia denies the warplane violated Turkey's airspace.
"All the components of the deployed anti-aircraft system, including the close-range complexes Pantsir-S and long range complexes Triumph S400, will be on continuous combat alert," said Putin.
"All partners are warned and they know that our air defence systems will be used against any targets which we consider a threat to Russian servicemen. I want to stress - any targets," he added.
The United States has accused Russia of not bombing IS targets in Syria with the same ferocity or frequency as it targeted what Washington said were more moderate groups opposed to President Bashar al-Assad.
A cessation of hostilities agreement brokered by the U.S. and Russia came into effect in late February and has reduced levels of fighting despite numerous reports of violations.
"Along with it I bring to your attention (the fact that) in case we witness ceasefire violations on the part of any groups - they will be automatically excluded from the list provided by the United States, with all the consequences that come with it," Putin said.
Putin told an audience of over 700 servicemen and military officers at the Kremlin ceremony that he hoped that Palmyra would soon fall to Assad.
"You know that intense fighting continues around Palmyra, near this city. I hope that this pearl of world civilization, or at least what's left of it after bandits made themselves at home there, will be returned to the Syrian people and the whole world," he said.
Putin on Monday (March 14) ordered the bulk of the Russian military contingent in Syria to be pulled out after five months of air strikes, saying the Kremlin had achieved most of its objectives.
He added that the cost of the operation had been born primarily through previously allocated funds.
"Of course the military operation came at a cost. But the major part of it was the resources and money of the Ministry of Defence - about 33 billion roubles - which were earlier already allocated to the budget of the ministry for 2015 for military exercises and training," he said.
Russia would finish withdrawing most of its Syria aviation strike force "any day now" and no later than by the end of this week, Viktor Bondarev, the head of the Russian air force, told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper in an interview published on Thursday.
That tallies with an updated Reuters calculation based on state TV and other footage, which shows that as of Thursday morning 18, or half, of Russia's estimated 36 fixed-wing military jets had flown out of Syria in the past three days.
On Thursday, the Rossiya 24 channel showed three Su-24 bombers landing at their home bases in the Urals.