by Tass at Russian News Agency
The Russian diplomat added that it “would be very wrong for me to elaborate on what happened and how it was resolved.”
NEW YORK, December 10. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov confirmed that Syrian ex-President Bashar Assad is now in Russia and he is safe.
“He is secured, and it shows that Russia acts as required in such an extraordinary situation,” he told NBC News.
The channel reported that Ryabkov became the first Russian official to confirm Assad’s arrival in Russia.
Ryabkov said Russia transported the former Syrian leader on its territory “in the most secure way possible.”
Earlier, a Kremlin source told TASS that Assad and his family members had arrived in Moscow as Russia had provided them with asylum based on humanitarian grounds.
On November 27, members of armed opposition groups launched a large-scale offensive against government forces’ positions in Aleppo and Idlib Governorates. By the evening of December 7, opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad had captured several major cities: Aleppo, Hama, Deir ez-Zor, Deraa, and Homs. They entered Damascus on December 8, after which Syrian army units withdrew from the city. The head of the Syrian government, Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, expressed his readiness for a peaceful transfer of power in the country. Assad left office and fled the country after intra-Syrian talks.
Continue Reading