Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he backed US counterpart Donald Trump’s decision to order troops back home from Syria after declaring “victory” over ISIL Takfiri group.
“The fact that the US has decided to withdraw its troops is right,” Putin said during his annual press conference.
Putin said that “as concerns victory over ISIL, on the whole I agree with the US president,” adding that “we have dealt serious blows against ISIL in Syria.”
Nevertheless, he cast doubt on Washington’s actions, saying “we don’t see any signs of withdrawing US troops yet, but I concede that it is possible.”
Meanwhile, Putin said the West was threatened by an increasingly powerful Russia, as he promised further economic growth during an end-of-year press conference.
Asked about Western sanctions against Russia, Putin said these were “connected with the growth of Russia’s power.”
“A powerful player appears who needs to be reckoned with. Until recently it was thought there was no longer such a country,” he said from behind a large wooden desk to an audience of hundreds of journalists.
The Russian strongman dismissed spy scandals — such as the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England — as invented to damage Russia’s standing.
“If there hadn’t been the Skripals, they would have thought up something else,” he said.
Source: AFP
