Summary
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he would start pulling his armed forces out of Syria, five months after he ordered a military intervention that turned the tide of the war in favor of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The Russian leader signaled Moscow would keep a military presence: he did not give a deadline for the completion of the withdrawal and said Russian forces would stay on at the port of Tartous and at the Hmeimim military airport in Syria's Latakia province, from which Russia has launched most of its air strikes.
Russian officials have said it is unrealistic to try to restore Assad's control over all of Syria and the time had come to negotiate a peace.
The Kremlin has never acknowledged this, so it was unclear whether such forces would be covered by the withdrawal.
That continued military presence, and Russia's role as a major diplomatic and financial backer of Assad, ensures that the Kremlin will maintain powerful leverage over Syria and the progress of peace talks.
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