"The settlement mechanism has been launched": the head of the General Staff of the Russian Federation announced the end of the military phase of the conflict in Syria

The military phase of the multi-year conflict in Syria has been completed, all conditions have been created in the country for a political settlement of the situation and the establishment of a peaceful life. This statement was made by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov, speaking at the VIII Moscow Conference on International Security.

“Currently, the military phase of the conflict is over. There are no large-scale operations in the country. The mechanism of political settlement of the Syrian conflict and reconciliation of the warring parties has been launched. We believe that all the conditions for this have been created, ”said Gerasimov.

In turn, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that the main forces of the "Islamic state" * in the region were defeated, and expressed the opinion that in the near future work on the elimination of gangs will be completed.

At the same time, the military expressed concern over the situation prevailing in the territories beyond the control of the SAR government, in particular in the areas of the Al-Rukban refugee camps in the south and Al-Khol in the north-east of the country.

Both of these formations have significantly increased in size lately, despite the fact that the camps lack food, water and medicine. Due to the deplorable conditions there, outbreaks of infectious diseases have repeatedly occurred.

“We have repeatedly urged the United States to liquidate the camp, to give the civilian population the opportunity to return to their former places of residence. However, there is no reaction. The camp continues to function, remaining one of the main factors for the growth of extremism and terrorism, ”said Shoigu.

According to him, the existing problems can be solved through the withdrawal of US forces from these areas and the transfer of territories under the control of the Syrian government, but Washington’s calls are ignored.

“Today in Syria, first of all, it is necessary to restore the infrastructure and economy, to solve humanitarian problems. Without this, it will not be possible to ensure a massive return of refugees from abroad, to intensify the political dialogue in the country, ”added the head of the Ministry of Defense.

It is worth recalling that the Russian Aerospace Forces launched the anti-terrorist operation in Syria in September 2015, when no more than 10% of the country's area remained under the control of the legitimate government. If it were not for the intervention of Moscow, by the end of 2015, an extremist quasi-state with significant military potential would have been formed on the territory of Syria and Iraq.

However, in two years, Russia, Syria and their allies managed to return a large part of the country's territory under the control of government forces and concentrate on the country's humanitarian rehabilitation, as well as a political resolution of the situation in the framework of the Astana format.

In the past six months alone, about 200 thousand Syrians have returned to places of permanent residence from abroad. There is an active restoration of infrastructure. Since the middle of July 2018, 138 water supply facilities, 180 bakeries, 631 electrical substations, 14,299 industrial enterprises, 158 medical and 847 educational institutions have been put into operation.

Today it became known that the Syrian authorities restored the entire infrastructure in the ancient city of Palmyra, which the IS terrorists twice seized during the armed conflict.

• El Khol refugee camp
• Reuters
• © Ali Hashisho

"The United States is well aware that the world in Syria is contrary to their concept of color revolutions"

According to Vladimir Fitin, an expert at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISS), despite the actual completion of the active phase of the military conflict in Syria, there are still quite a lot of problems in the Arab Republic. First of all, we are talking about the situation in the province of Idlib, where all the remaining terrorist groups, headed by Hayat Tahrir ash-Sham ** (the former Jabhat al-Nusroy), are concentrated.

“The issue of this terrorist enclave continues to be relevant, without solving it, it is difficult to talk about a stable situation in the country and a final peace settlement. Plus, the US military bases in the north-east and south of Syria, “- said the expert.

The interlocutor RT also added that the position of Washington in this situation remains stable: the Americans do not want to allow the restoration of Syria under the condition that Bashar Asad or people from his circle will continue to lead the country.

“They are set to complete a regime change. They will not allow any support, any assistance, and demand the same from all their Western partners, ”said Fitin.

In turn, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Military Sciences, political analyst Sergei Sudakov expressed the opinion that the actions of the United States in Syria are largely due to the opposition not even to Damascus, but to Moscow in response to the successful actions of the Russian side in the Middle East.

“By and large, this is a kind of artificial situation that is created only in order not to come to peace on the Syrian land. The United States is well aware that the very concept of peace in Syria contradicts their concept of color revolutions, regime change and the governance of another’s sovereignty. Russia has never set as its goal the alienation of foreign sovereignty and the drive to power of a loyal government, ”the expert said.

The political analyst noted that the situation in Syria as a whole is developing in a favorable direction: large gangs, warehouses, mechanisms for the supply of weapons and material support for the militants have been destroyed; The Syrian army is carrying out systematic work to eliminate small groups of terrorists.

“The process has moved to the final stage. Militants are well aware that their task now is to dissolve among the civilian population ... Today, there is the problem of harboring those who were involved in terrorist activities. Many are beginning to hide their relatives who were on the side of the "Islamic state", - said Sudakov.

Commenting on the statements of the United States that they eliminated the problem of the IG, the interlocutor of RT noted that such rhetoric "smacks of bravado very much" and demonstrates exclusively populist statements of American politicians and military.

“We are well aware that the work done by the Russian army can be called key in the question of the destruction of the IS. We showed the best qualities in terms of observation, data analysis, reconnaissance and point of destruction ... Of course, we are still far from the complete world. I believe that it will take at least a year to completely stabilize the situation and eradicate this black plague from the territory of the Syrian state, ”summed up Sudakov.

* “Islamic State” (IG, ISIL) - the organization is recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 29, 2014.

** “Khayat Tahrir ash-Sham” (“Jabhat Fath ash-Sham”, “Front an-Nusra”, “Jabhat an-Nusra”) - the organization is recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014.