Putin: Russia to Redeploy Forces in Syria within Hours if Required

Local Editor

Three days after his surprise announcement that the country's military involvement in the Syrian war would be wound down, Russian President Vladimir Putin made clear that his country could redeploy its forces in Syria "in a few hours."

"Of course, if required Russia will be ready in just a few hours to increase its forces in the region to a size that is adequate to meet the situation and use our full arsenal of options," the Russian president said at a ceremony in the Kremlin to honor pilots who served in the five-and-a-half month mission.

"We don't want to do that, military escalation is not our preferred route, and so we are hoping that all sides will show common sense and that both the authorities and the opposition will adhere to the peace process."

Besides, Putin stated earlier on Monday that, despite the announced pullout, Moscow would keep active the airbase near the Syrian city of Lattakia, from which it has run its bombing raids. He added on Thursday that the advanced S-400 missile defense system would be kept in Syria.

Furthermore, during Thursday's Kremlin ceremony, Putin said the Russian military spent around 33bn roubles [some $486 bn] on the mission in Syria, describing the outlay as "fully justified and necessary".

Referring to the future developments, Putin stressed he was sure of seeing new and serious successes in the near future. Meanwhile, Russian forces would continue to carry out airstrikes against Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the Takfiri "ISIS" group], al-Nusra Front and other terrorist groups, he added, and would keep providing a wide range of aid to Syrian government forces.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team