Russia Prioritizes Ukraine Offensive Amid Syrian Crisis and Rebel Attacks

Russia also said its military offensive on Ukraine remained its “absolute priority” amid questions over whether Moscow’s almost three-year campaign there meant it could not support long-term ally Bashar al-Assad in the face of the rebel offensive.

“We would like to see the situation in the country stabilized somehow as soon as possible,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

He also condemned Israel’s strikes on Syrian military installations and the establishment of a “buffer zone” as aggravating the crisis.

“The strikes, the actions in the Golan Heights, and the buffer zone hardly contribute to the stabilization of the situation in the already destabilized Syria,” he said.

Russia was continuing to discuss the fate of its military infrastructure in the country with Syria’s new leadership, Peskov said.

“We are in contact with those who control the situation in Syria. This is necessary since our (military) base and diplomatic mission are there,” Peskov said.

The Tartus naval base and Hmeimim air base in Syria are Russia’s only military outposts outside the former Soviet Union and have been key to the Kremlin’s activities in Africa and the Middle East.

Russia’s 2015 intervention turned the tide of the Syrian civil war and is widely credited with saving Assad’s regime as it fought a myriad group of rebel forces.

But with Moscow bogged down with its military offensive on Ukraine, some analysts say it did not have the resources or energy to come to its rescue again.

“The special military operation is the absolute priority for our country,” Peskov said Thursday, using Moscow’s preferred language for the offensive.

“All the objectives of the special military operation will be achieved,” he added.