Assad fled as Russia ‘no longer interested in protecting him’: Trump

ANKARA

US President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday that Russia was not interested in protecting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, forcing him to flee the country.

Assad fled Syria to an unknown location after anti-regime groups took control of the capital Damascus early Sunday. It came almost a week after anti-regime groups seized control of Aleppo, a major city in northern Syria.

“Assad is gone. He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

“There was no reason for Russia to be there in the first place. They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead, in a war that should never have started, and could go on forever.”

Trump said that the Russian war in Ukraine has weakened both Russia and Iran.

"Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success," he said.

Ukraine cease-fire

Trump called for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine to end the conflict there.

“(Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness. They have ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians,” he said.

"There should be an immediate cease-fire and negotiations should begin," he said.

“Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse.”

Trump called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to act decisively to end the war in Ukraine.

"I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act,” he said.

"China can help. The World is waiting!"

Russia has annexed Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions since it claimed to launch a "special military operation" in Feb. 2022.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi