With the regime of his Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad toppled in Damascus, Russian leader Vladimir Putin received a public warning from President-elect Donald Trump, who urged him to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine before the conflict there becomes “far worse.”
“Assad is gone,” Trump wrote, in an early Sunday morning post on Truth Social. “He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer. There was no reason for Russia to be there in the first place.”
A Truth Social post by President-elect Donald Trump in which he encourages Russian President Vladimir Putin to pursue a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Russia’s foreign ministry confirmed Sunday that Assad left Damascus and stepped down, putting an end to his reign that began in 2000 with promises of reform and descended into a personality cult dictatorship defined by human rights abuses.
Russia, Assad’s biggest backer, since anti-government conflicts began in Syria in 2011, has had to focus its resources on its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead, in a war that should never have started, and could go on forever,” Trump wrote, likely citing a NATO estimate about Russian casualties.
The president-elect suggested that Putin should agree to an immediate ceasefire and come to the negotiating table before, he said, the impact of the war in Ukraine further damages his country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy conveyed to Trump his openness to negotiations at a meeting in Paris Saturday.
“Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness,” Trump wrote. “They have ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians. There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse.”
Trump has claimed he would end the Ukraine war in a single day after taking office—something diplomats and experts have doubted, especially as Russia has in recent weeks retaken and captured new territory.
Last week, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the newspaper Izvestia “there are no grounds for negotiations yet.”
Trump, nevertheless, pressed Putin to act: “I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is waiting!”
As for Russia’s fallen ally in Syria, Trump on Saturday appeared to suggest staying out of the matter.
As rebels, led by al-al-Qaeda break-off group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, made a rapid advance against a depleted and isolated Assad. Trump wrote: “THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!”
HTS, which will now jockey with other rebel groups to fill the power vacuum left by the departed dictator, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States.
