The media, Congress, the international community — just about everybody is reeling after the joint news conference on Monday in Helsinki bringing together President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Among other remarkable declarations, Trump seemed to agree with Putin by doubting the US intelligence community’s assessment that Moscow mounted an effort to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. The American president said he favored Putin’s offer to allow US investigators to interview Russians in the investigation, although Putin conditioned it on allowing Russian investigators to pursue charges against Americans. Trump said Russia’s law enforcement was more efficacious than its US counterpart.
The reaction was swift and angry from all sides of the political spectrum. But there was at least one corner of apparent normalcy in the news conference: Russia and the United States seemed to agree that any Syria outcome should reassure Israel about its security needs.
“The south of Syria should be brought to the full compliance with the treaty of 1974 about the separation of forces — about separation of forces of Israel and Syria,” said Putin, speaking extensively and with some detail on the subject. “This will bring peace to Golan Heights, and bring a more peaceful relationship between Syria and Israel, and also to provide security of the State of Israel.”
The disengagement Putin referred to allowed Israel and Syria to coexist more or less without incident from 1974 until the 2011 civil war that wracked the country and brought in US and Russian involvement.
Trump in his remarks said Israel’s security was preeminent both in American and Russian considerations of Syria.
Does Iran stay?
Implicit in Putin’s emphasis on ensuring Israel’s security in the “south” is that Iran, Russia’s de facto ally in assisting the Assad regime’s bid for survival, will be absent from that region, as will its proxy, the Lebanese militia Hezbollah.
But Netanyahu wants Iran out of Syria, period. Prior to meeting with Putin last week in Russia, the Israeli leader met with top Russian officials and said in a statement that he “made it clear that Israel will not tolerate a military presence by Iran or its proxies anywhere in Syria.”
Netanyahu met with Putin and has spoken with him since; it’s not clear yet whether Putin is willing to commit to an Iran-free Syria. Two considerations may factor into Putin’s reluctance: Iran sees its continuing presence in Syria as critical, and removing it may be too daunting for a Russia that is preoccupied in multiple corners of the globe. Putin also might want a “give” in exchange for banishing Iran from Syria — perhaps US and international recognition of its annexation of Crimea.
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