Putin’s power play: Russia makes moves in the Middle East as the world watches North Korea
NORTH Korea has the world’s undivided attention as King Jon-Un’s hermit regime blasts missiles miles out to sea – but while military powers watch the peninsula, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is seeking power elsewhere.
By ZOIE O’BRIEN
Express.co.uk
Sun, Aug 13, 2017
he Russians have made no secret of their attempt ally with the middle east – and while the US and Nato forces try their attention to the nuclear threat from North Korea, the Kremlin is focused on Syria.
Battering Islamic State terrorists in Syria has long been on the Kremlin agenda, and Putin is cementing ties with Dictator President Bashar al-Assad.
The Russian military announced on Sunday the city of as-Sukhnah (al-Sukhneh) has now been fully liberated from ISIS after being taken in 2015.
In a massive strategic defeat over daesh, Assad’s army has made a major inroad to the besieged enclave of Deir ez-Zor.
Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu said: “Today we can say that everyone is focused, set up for the fight against IS.
“Today there are such key points, like Deir ez-Zor – I would say, first and foremost Deir-ez-Zor… It’s such a basic point on the Euphrates River, which would largely, if not ultimately, tell about the end of the fight against IS.
“Over the past two months, the territories controlled by Damascus have grown by 250 percent.
“We’ve started persuading our American colleagues that terrorists should be separated from opposition to understand where to strike… Establishing the de-escalation zones today is exactly this separation.”
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