Syria crisis: US attacks Moscow welcome for Assad

The White House has strongly condemned a visit to Moscow by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

A spokesman criticised Russia for putting on a “red carpet welcome”.

The Syrian leader’s trip on Tuesday came three weeks after Russia began air strikes in Syria against Islamic State militants and other forces.

It was Assad’s first overseas trip since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011. The conflict has claimed more than a quarter of a million lives.

On Thursday, a team of Russian MPs is due to meet with President Assad and the head of the Syrian parliament in Damascus.

While in Moscow, Assad made a point of expressing his gratitude for Russia’s military intervention in the conflict.

He said Russia’s involvement had stopped “terrorism” becoming “more widespread and harmful” in Syria.

For his part, Putin said Moscow’s hope was that a “long-term resolution can be achieved on the basis of a political process with the participation of all political forces, ethnic and religious groups”.

By hosting the Syrian leader, President Putin was sending a clear message to the West – that Moscow is a key player in the Middle East, and that there can be no solution to the Syrian conflict without Russia’s involvement.

“We view the red carpet welcome for Assad, who has used chemical weapons against his own people, at odds with the stated goal by the Russians for a political transition in Syria,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters.

A state department official said it was not surprised by the visit, but the main US concern was Russia’s continued military support, which he said had emboldened the Assad government – something that would only serve to lengthen the civil war.

Assad’s surprise visit to Moscow represents a sign of growing confidence for the embattled Syrian president, showing he felt it safe to leave Damascus for the first time since the civil war in Syria erupted.

The road to any diplomatic settlement now runs through Moscow and, for now at least, Assad has to be part of any interim solution.

More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed and a million injured in its civil war while some 11 million others have been forced from their homes, of whom four million have fled abroad – including growing numbers who are making the dangerous journey to Europe.

Iran, Russia and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement are propping up the Alawite-led Assad government, while Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar back the more moderate Sunni-dominated opposition, along with the US, UK and France.

Hezbollah and Iran are believed to have troops and officers on the ground, while a Western-led coalition and Russia are carrying out air strikes.