The United States plans to send Islamic terrorists from Syria to Ukraine to aid in the war against Russia, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told Russian state-owned media RIA Novosti.
On Wednesday, Assad met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since the Ukraine-Russia War began to discuss Syria and Russia’s political, economic, and military relationships. RIA spoke to Assad after the meeting about the situation in Ukraine and the United States' presence in Europe and the Middle East.
Both the interviewer from RIA and Assad accused the US of harboring terrorists and manipulating the war for its own benefit.
"We don't have proof,” said Assad when asked whether the US is transferring militants into Ukraine. “But it's quite expected...the US is moving terrorists from one place to another, in addition to the terrorists moving on their own.”
The militants he accuses the US of enlisting are “Islamic terrorists,” he says, who hide behind the veil of religion. Although there are no religious motives associated with the war in Ukraine, Assad insists that he knows the purported terrorists are there based on videos he has seen online.
"We don't have proof."
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad when asked on US transferring militants into Ukraine
“Judging by the videos circulating on the Internet, they are present there,” Assad said. “They didn't go there because of the idea of jihad. It is certain that someone abandoned these terrorists, and undoubtedly this happened under the patronage of the United States and its agents from Western countries.
"This is a typical topic that happens all the time and is not connected with either Syria or Ukraine, it is connected with the mechanism of action of America and Western countries in the issue of using terrorism as an agent in their wars. Naturally, there are terrorists who were transferred from other regions, including from Syria, in order to fight Russia in Ukraine," he told RIA.
"Naturally, there are terrorists who were transferred from other regions, including from Syria, in order to fight Russia in Ukraine.”
Assad
Russia pushes claims of American recruitment of militants
RIA reported that, according to their sources, the CIA has been recruiting militants from Kurdish-controlled camps in northeastern Syria for shipment to Ukraine.
According to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, the CIA recruited 90 militants in June and 60 in January, including several members of Al Qaeda and other jihadist groups affiliated with the Islamic State.
RIA claims that the militants were transferred to America’s Al-Tanf base in Syria to receive formal training in the execution of terror attacks at the behest of the US military against foreign government officials, military personnel, and civilians.
In addition to claiming that the US is using terrorists to manipulate the war in Ukraine, RIA reported that the US is guilty of supplying terrorists in Syria with advanced weapons. When asked about America’s sending arms to the terrorists that oppose his regime, Assad responded: “It will be only a small fraction of what will come to these terrorist groups directly from the United States.”
“Superpowers today cannot defend themselves or play their role from inside their borders. They must do so outside of them through allies in the world or through bases."
Assad
“The United States provided them with modern advanced air defense missiles; the terrorists have all the satellites,” he continued. “What does the leak of small stocks of weapons mean? Nothing. They have everything, they are an alternative army to the regular army of the United States and other NATO member states.”
After decrying the United States’ prominent presence in Syria, Assad said that he invited Putin to erect more permanent military bases in Syria: “Superpowers today cannot defend themselves or play their role from inside their borders. They must do so outside of them through allies in the world or through bases. We believe that if Russia has the desire to expand bases or increase its number, then this is a matter of a technical or logistical nature. If there is such a desire, then we believe that the expansion of the Russian presence in Syria is good.“