Quote:
Originally Posted by Skybird
The Russioans will not give their bases up silently. Peskov already announced they want to negotiate their status with any follow-up government there may be. This gives the Syrians a very tempting opportunity to drive the costs up and squeeze quite some out of Russia, if they jump over their shadow and consider the Russian request. Its not clear to nom what the new current leader values higher: to itch the West by allowing the Russians to stay and make " fortune" from this, or to appease the West by not allowing and by that maybe inviting Western instead of Russian support. None of the possible outcomes I would call "obvious" at this time.
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Several Russian Navy ships have left the Syrian port of Tartus. This was reported by Reuters news agency on the basis of satellite images from Planet Labs. These show three Russian ships anchored about 13 kilometers from the coast. Russia has not yet responded to the ships' departure or explained the motivation for their departure. According to Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, the new Syrian rulers must decide what to do with the Russian presence in the country. The still some seven thousand Russian military personnel in Syria are in the highest state of readiness.