Former Syrian President Bashar Assad decided to step down of his own volition, and Moscow played no part in it, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
After jihadist militants, together with other opposition forces, took control of Syria over the weekend, Assad officially resigned as president and traveled with his family to Moscow.
The Russian Foreign Ministry explained that Assad had agreed to step down following negotiations with armed opposition groups and has instructed officials to ensure a “peaceful transfer of power.”
Peskov has since confirmed that the former Syrian leader had been granted asylum in Russia on humanitarian grounds and that the move was personally approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Asked by journalists on Tuesday if Russia had in any way influenced Assad’s decision, Peskov stated that the Syrian leader had resigned on his own accord.
“Resigning from the process of fulfilling the duties of the head of state was Assad’s personal decision. Everything else is without comment,” the Kremlin spokesman said.
Previously, Mikhail Ulyanov, a senior Russian diplomat, had stated that the decision to grant Assad asylum reflected Russia’s commitment to its allies in challenging times. “Russia does not betray its friends in difficult situations… unlike the US,” Ulyanov stated.
A number of armed opposition groups launched an offensive late last month, with Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) leading the charge. With the government forces offering little or no resistance, militants swiftly seized several major cities, eventually taking the capital, Damascus, on Saturday.
In a televised address the following day, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani proclaimed victory. Meanwhile, Mohammed al-Bashir, a former head of rebel-held northwestern Syria, has been tasked with forming a new transitional government.