US must 'stop stealing' Syrian oil and revoke unilateral sanctions on Damascus, says Putin

As the rift between Moscow and Washington extends, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused the US of "looting" Syrian oil despite having imposed sanctions on Damascus. Speaking at a meeting in Tel Aviv, alongside his Iranian and Turkish counterparts, Putin blamed the US for exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Syria with the unilateral penalties slapped on the West Asian country. Putin demanded that the American army must immediately vacate the east Euphrates territories and "stop stealing the Syrian state, Syrian people by illegally exporting oil" from the region, as reported by RT News. 

Notably, Russia is one of the three guarantors of the Astana Agreement- peace negotiations to end the conflict in Syria- launched in December 2016. It was named after the venue where the talks were initiated, which is Kazakhstan's capital. The last meeting to resolve the Syrian war, which began in 2011, took place on June 15 and 16, 2022. Apart from Russia, two other guarantors of the Astana process, Turkey and Iran were also in a "common position" on US presence in Syria.

At the summit, Putin also stressed that the "future of Syria must be defined by Syrians themselves." He added that Russia, Turkey, and Iran were ready to take measures and to promote dialogue within the conflict-torn country, RT News Agency reported. Calling out the US over its "illegal" presence in Syria, Putin said the results have had "disastrous results," adding that assistance to Syria "should not be politicised," RT News reported.

To note, nearly 900 US military soldiers continue to remain in northeast Syria in order to help Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) mitigate local counter-terrorism fighting Islamic State. The US backs the SDF, which refused to reintegrate with Damascus and sees Syrian President Bashar Assad as a war criminal. Washington wishes to overthrow Assad's government, for which the Donald Trump government in 2019 introduced the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, which seeks to penalise anyone who tries to assist in the reconstruction of war-ravaged Syria. The act also blocks all aid to the country until Assad remains in power.

Putin very 'pleased' to be on Iranian soil

On this first trip since the invasion of Ukraine outside borders of the erstwhile Soviet Union, Putin on Tuesday reached Iran to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. "I am very pleased to be on the hospitable Iranian soil...We can boast about record figures in terms of trade growth. We are strengthening our cooperation on international security issues," Putin said in a bilateral meeting with Raisi, as reported by CNN. He added that the triad is also making a "significant contribution to the settlement of the Syrian conflict." Following the bilateral meeting, Iran also inked an oil deal worth $40 billion with Russian state-owned gas agency Gazprom, Sana News Agency reported. Iran also slammed the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), justifying the Russian war as an adequate response to the military alliance's "expansionist behaviour."

(Image: AP)