Russia’s Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev and Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad.
A Russian delegation headed by Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev arrived in the Syrian capital of Damascus on April 19 and held a meeting with the country’s President, Bashar al-Assad.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said that the Syrian President and the Russian delegation discussed issues on the agenda of the upcoming round of Astana talks, which will be held on April 25 and 26.
“President al-Assad and Lavrentiev stressed the importance of continuous coordination between the two sides regarding the raised issues to come out with positive results that achieve aspirations of the Syrian people, on top of which is the elimination of terrorism and the restoration of security and stability to all Syrian territory,” a report by the SANA reads.
Assad affirmed that the upcoming talks should be focused on overcoming obstacles hindering the implementation of the Russian-Turkish agreement on Idlib. Meanwhile, Lavrentiev expressed his confidence that Astana talks will achieve more successes, whether with regard to defeating terrorism or to the political process.
The Syrian al-Watan newspaper revealed a few hours after the meeting that Lavrentyev conveyed a “positive” Saudi initiative to Assad. The newspaper, which has close ties to the Damascus government, didn’t provide any additional information about the alleged initiative.
Lavrentyev held a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud in the Kingdom on April 18. The two sides discussed the situation in Syria. However, it remains unclear if the reports regarding the Saudi initiative are accurate.
For those wanting to know the truth, why Putin now does not even speak with Assad by telefone, and how Putin pushes Assad into compromising of key issues, read this:
https://www.globalresearch.ca/why-isnt-oil-rich-russia-helping-syrian-ally-survive-fuel-crisis/5674753
This Global research article even explaines how Putin works with the Saudis (a new favorite “Partner” for Putin) to pressure Assad..
No word about the truth how Putin treats Assad and Syria on SF.. So let me quote:
“It’s seemingly inexplicable to many that one of the world’s top oil exporters won’t help its “ally” survive the ever-worsening fuel crisis,
but upon closer consideration and after much-needed critical thinking, it becomes clear that Russia intends to politicize this crisis in order
to compel Syria into undertaking further concessions related to the upcoming constitutional reform process and initiating Iran’s dignified
but “phased withdrawal” from the country, meaning that Moscow probably won’t “ride to the rescue” until Damascus finally promises to do what
it’s wanted for over the past two years already.
The Elephant In The Room
The US’ strict anti-Iranian sanctions regime is responsible for causing a serious fuel crisis in Syria, with the popular Al-Masdar information outlet reporting that “thousands of cars in cities like Damascus, Latakia, and Aleppo are forced to wait several hours to fill up gas as the lines often stretch 3-5km long”. Neighboring Lebanon is temporarily assisting Syria with emergency fuel shipments in order to prevent the crisis in the war-torn state from worsening at precisely the point when most observers expected it to finally improve, but Beirut barely has enough oil to meet its own demands so this therefore doesn’t represent a sustainable solution to the crisis. As Syria struggles to survive and stave off the Color Revolution unrest that might “naturally” develop if its people continue to live in squalor and the price of everything spikes in response to shortage of fuel, the Alt-Media Community is busy condemning the US and its allies for their role in all of this while avoiding the elephant in the room of asking why the country’s oil-rich Russian “ally” isn’t helping it at this dire moment.
Exposing The Economic Excuse
It’s seemingly inexplicable that one of the world’s top oil exporters and most masterful perception management practitioners wouldn’t gift its “ally” emergency fuel shipments as a humanitarian gesture or at least sell it what it needs under a deferred payment plan, especially when considering that it’s owned all of the country’s oil and gas infrastructure since last year and regularly ships large amounts of oil to the country in order to meet the huge demands of its fuel-hungry Aerospace Forces there. On top of that, Russia even sells gas to its American adversary in spite of the sanctions that its customer imposed on this industry, proving that the “power of the dollar” is just as much of a Russian mantra as an American one, so it doesn’t make sense why it won’t do the same for its Syrian “ally” in exchange even if it’s through an oil-for-goods “barter agreement” like Russia has with Iran. Evidently, the Russian leadership is deliberately holding off on helping its Syrian “ally” for reasons that have nothing to do with economics but everything to do with politics.
(Anti-)Constitutional Demands
To explain, President Assad dealt his Russian counterpart an unprecedentedly humiliating diplomatic defeat when his government refused to implement the many controversial clauses of the Russian-written “draft constitution” that was first unveiled during the inaugural meeting of the Astana peace process back in January 2017, something that President Putin has never forgotten. Practically every one of the many growing differences between Russia and Syria can be traced back to that moment when Moscow caught Damascus completely off guard by presenting this surprise document to it at the same time as it gave this proposal to the so-called “rebels” that also attended the event, which was an unthinkable affront to Syria’s dignity and “face” even though it was “well-intended” and meant to revive the stalled peace process. Worse still, Russia then began “gently” seeking Iran’s “phased withdrawal” from the Arab Republic and entered into open collaboration with Syria’s hated Zionist foe to this end, resulting in the “nightmare scenario” of “Putinyahu’s Rusrael” emerging on Damascus’ doorstep and even becoming the most powerful military force within its own borders.
Russia’s Brokering of Iran’s Withdrawal from Syria. Russia’s “Informal Alliance” with Israel?
The Messenger
President Putin is so angry with President Assad ever since the September spy plane tragedy that he’s no longer on speaking terms with him anymore after talking to his counterpart only once nearly a full week after what happened, instead dispatching Defense Minister Shoigu to deliver a message to him recently when he could have just picked up the phone and called like he often does whenever he wants to talk with Erdogan or Netanyahu, both of whom it should be pointed out are Assad’s enemies. It can only be speculated what the latest message was about, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it included a “reminder” about President Putin’s insistence that his Syrian counterpart complies with the many constitutional changes that Russia “suggested” over two years ago and which are once again becoming relevant ahead of the commencement of the so-called “constitutional committee” that Moscow compelled Damascus to “compromise” on by agreeing to only have a 1/3 representation in.
“Diplomatic Blackmail”
Had Damascus agreed to Moscow’s speculative demands, then there’s no doubt that Russia would have already “rode to the rescue” by now and saved it from the current fuel crisis, but it’s very likely that Syria refused to give in to this “diplomatic blackmail” and that’s why Russia is “punishing” it by withholding much-needed supplies at this crucial time despite knowing that the exacerbation of this crisis could very well lead to Color Revolution unrest. Unlike what many might think, that scenario wouldn’t necessarily be detrimental to Russia’s strategic interests since it’s already “grooming” several members of the Syrian “opposition” like Jamil Qadri who often meet with high-level diplomats in Moscow and could possibly replace him “if need be”. Furthermore, “Russia’s Reshaping Syria’s ‘Deep State’ In Its Own Image” by actively “reforming” its armed forces in order to eliminate Iranian influence and replace it with its own, so it’s not far-fetched to imagine that Moscow has several ” back-up plans” if President Assad doesn’t do what President Putin wants.
Are The Saudis Pulling The Strings?
Another fact that deserves mentioning is that Russia currently controls the global oil market through the OPEC+ duopoly that it jointly manages with its new Saudi strategic partner, which it’s bidding to build 16 nuclear reactors for and just delivered state-of-the-art rocket launchers to. The aforementioned shipment also occurred right around the time that Russia’s UN Ambassador praised the Saudi-led coalition for “playing a very constructive role” in Yemen and just prior to the news that Russia replaced Venezuelan and Iranian crude on European markets as a result of Trumps sanctions regimes against both of the country’s “partners”. Given the ultra-lucrative cooperation that Russia currently has with Saudi Arabia and the growing closeness between these two Great Powers, it’s very possible that Russia intends to also replace Iranian crude on the Syrian market as part of its regional “balancing” strategy and is just waiting for the fuel crisis to become so unbearable that Damascus ditches Tehran and practically begs Moscow for oil at any price, possibly after promising to implement Russia’s “proposed” constitutional “reforms” and initiate Iran’s dignified but “phased withdrawal” from the country.
Concluding Thoughts
The entire population of Syria is seriously suffering from the current fuel crisis that was caused by American sanctions but could easily be relieved through the support of the country’s oil-rich Russian “ally”, though Moscow is holding off on helping Damascus until the latter complies with the Great Power’s most important political demands such as implementing the Russian-written “draft constitution” and initiating Iran’s dignified but “phased withdrawal” from the Arab Republic. The worsening crisis is making it more difficult for refugees to repatriate to their homeland from neighboring Lebanon and could also potentially result in a Color Revolution against President Assad, though Russia doesn’t seem to fazed by any of this because it already has several back-up plans that it could rely on in those scenarios in order to safeguard its strategic interests. After all, none other than Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov loudly proclaimed in 2016 that “Assad is not our ally” so it doesn’t matter to Moscow whether he remains in office or not. Alt-Media won’t admit it, but it looks like President Putin is no longer afraid of the “Assad must go” curse.”
It appears the article you posted here hit the nail on the head. No need for extra comments.
Thanks. I normally dont post links, let alone quote a whole article. But as you said, it hits the nail on the head. And sadly this truth is oviously not one that SF seems to interest.
Why that is, i leave to judge for anybody individually. I can only say as someone, who follows the Syrian war for years: Dont believe both the official narrative and also not the counternarrative. Read different sources, and judge for yourself.
NATO plays it game, though i believes otherwise for years, i know now that Russia under Putin is no different.
I just hope there is still a way for Syria to avoid the balkanisation that the NATO planned and now Russia also not has a problem with.. I guess Iran is Assads and Syrias only real hope for saving at least a bit of souvereignity.
we all did at one point, you not the only one.
Nato didnt plan any Balkanisation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American-led_intervention_in_the_Syrian_Civil_War
If you start telling lyes Yourself, You also can conclude as You wish.
Syria actually today are Balkanized. Are You blind. Look at a map. And where are the borders ? Those borders often was used in the Ottoamans as well as long time before.
And why ?? Because they still make some kind of sence even Alleppo and Raqqa provinces for stupid reasons are divided and 1/2 given to Turks by neocolonisme.
So You seemes to support neocolonialistic borders as well.
Russia never has been the savior, as You write.
They are for both of You, and as little children You deny Jews existence as it is now and has been since 1948.
You not even see the big lines, which started by dividing Islam in Sunnis and Shiits as Persians, Turks and semittes.
I could linemany more up, but You only have learned twist and shout and USA-USA having no local responsabilty.
I still here arabs support Assads, SDFs are only kurds.
You even read and write maps and countries, which is not there, because reading and writing is not the same as understand. UNDERSTAND.
Could you repost your link as it shows as spam and is thus unreadable.
Thank you
The main priority for the Saudi’s and Arab League at the moment is the Turkish problem, the Turkish occupation of Syria and the removal of Turkish forces would have been the main focus of talks between the Saudis and the Russians, and I suspect the Turks ongoing support for Isis in Syria was also on the cards too. Isis and Turkey are working together now, no one officially accuses Turkey of collaboration with Isis but they all know the truth.
-“Assad affirmed that the upcoming talks should be focused on overcoming obstacles hindering the implementation of the Russian-Turkish agreement on Idlib. Meanwhile, Lavrentiev expressed his confidence that Astana talks will achieve more successes, whether with regard to defeating terrorism or to the political process”-.
In other words Assad was saying to the Russians, stop pandering to foreign powers and get the Turks out of my country’, but the Russians responded with, ‘we’re trying to but the Asatana process is taking time to implement’, and also added, the ‘Astana agreement will now be included in a wider political settlement that involves foreign countries’, most likely concerning resolution 2254, which I think will mean the end for Assad.
Putin’s trying to keep everyone happy but making no one happy, what a whore this man is, he has no loyalty to Assad at all.
When the Saudis first proposed to build a gas pipeline into Europe through Syria, and then asked Assad to participate in the venture, he refused to participate, and he also added that if he did participate in the venture, it would do nothing but harm his Russian allies economy tremendously, even if Syria did stand to make a huge fortune by joining the Saudi venture, so he refused.
That was when the war in Syria really began, 2007, not 2011, only the military phase began in 2011, all the preparations for the Syrian war were started sometime after 2007.
If the Saudis had built that pipe to the EU, Russia would’ve lost at least 30% of it’s countries total export revenue, not just it’s total oil and gas revenue, but total export revenue, Russia was and still is very dependent on revenue it gets from the European gas market, losing just half of that market to the Saudis would have meant a 30% loss in revenue, trade wars with the Saudis would have made it even worse than a 30% loss of revenue.
Assad’s a decent man but Putin’s a whore, Assad stood by Putin when Putin needed him, but Putin hasn’t done the same for Assad. Assad in reality saved Russia and its economy, and in return Putin’s selling off Syria under Assad’s feet.
Deleted comment and link, SF is upset with someone, now I’m curious as to what it was, damm.
Most astutely put.
By now, Russia has proven to be a (cunning) whore with no loyalty playing on all sides. It’s also worth noting that Russian companies secured oil production rights in Syria; but have produced nothing to date – reason being that their interest is aligned with the one of the US to keep worldwide production low.
I am however not sure if the foreign assault on Syria – masqueraded as “civil war” – could have been avoided with Assad allying itself with the Saudis. Thoughts? Aside from removing Syria from Lebanon (no complaints there) and disarming Hezbollah, the 2005 false-flag assassination of Rafik Hariri aimed to trigger a civil war in Lebanon that was meant to spread to Damascus (for which thousands of Marines were ready for deployment). The splitting of Syria was also a long time objective for the Zionists (read: the Anglo-Americans via their colonial Zionist state known as Israel):
Dans quel Monde Bordélique vivons nous, jusqu’à quand ?
Les sommets sauvages des Alpes étant devenus un Disney-Land,
je m’étais réfugié dans la plongée sous-marine(Un autre Monde)
au meilleur endroit de la Planète, mais tout a été détruits
a la Dynamite et au cyanure par les Politiciens et fonctionnaires locaux pour crâner avec des SUV 4X4 en vendant des ailerons
de requins, du poisson, et des raretés pour aquariums
a l’international ou dans les Seafood Restaurants en Chine
pour manger des raretés quasi invisibles ou inexistantes…
Sur un sujet totalement different et Tabou ou le Levant
fait les frais de la folie humaine !
Amazon Banned These 9 Academic Books Questioning Certain Aspects of the ‘Holocaust’. Why?
https://russia-insider.com/en/history/amazon-banned-these-9-academic-books-questioning-certain-aspects-holocaust-why/ri26511
Why? You said it yourself: it’s the extent of human madness.
Erasmus of Rotterdam the “Humanist”
living in Basel already understood it and wrote it
in his famous book published in 1511,
it’s more accurate than ever…
It’s among the Best ever, everybody, even kids
should have read “The Praise of Folly”
Humanism is the only solution for the “Homo Sapiens”
survival, we are far from it,
and maybe life disappearance on the Planet is very close.
Albert Einstein said :
“if there is a WW3, WW4 would be with sticks and stones”
Stones only. I suspect all sticks will have disappeared in the WW III conflagration.
Only Viruses and Bacteria will left,
some believe spiders hidden in holes too…
Cockroaches too. La cucaracha la cucaracha……
“The Praise of Folly”
Never heard of this book. Sounds like something I would read. Still catching up on my education….. Thanks.
C’est vraiment ça: bordélique.
Questioning the mainstream and imposed narrative of the so-called Holocaust would expose the gigantic lies of those who instigated WW2 (and WW1 – both being in reality one war with a pause in between) in the first place: the Anglo-Saxon ruling class (who includes Jews). The ad nauseam focus on the alleged death of “6 millions Jews” in the so-called “gas chambers” also diverts from what the degenerate Allies did to the German, European and Russian people (killings millions of civilians, war prisoners, etc). That is not to say Jews were not targeted and killed en masse.
Up until 2 years ago the US has always encourage the Saudis to overproduce and keep prices low, and they’d still like them to continue, but due to the Saudis continually running massive deficits, they’ve had to lift their prices up and lower production, or go broke, despite the US’s wishes and massive loans to bribe them 100 bill in military loans, WTF.
The US has always used the Saudis to keep world fuel prices low, countries like Russia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela, are highly or totally dependent on oil and gas revenue, and the US likes keeping their opponents revenue streams as low as possible, just to keep them in their places, and also to make fuel cheaper for them, especially back when they were importing heaps of it.
I’m pretty sure we’d never have had a war in Syria if Assad would have joined the Saudi/Qatari venture, since both the US and the EU have been wanting to cut the EU’s dependence on Russian gas since at least 2003, which was over 30% of the total EU market but has dropped to just over 20% now, but that’s still a lot of money and influence for Russia to lose, and that Saudi pipeline would have done exactly that.
The US wouldn’t have started the war if Assad chose to align with the Saudis, but I think Putin would have dropped an A bomb on Al Tanf if the Saudis started to build that pipeline into the EU, and then no one would ever build another pipeline there for another thousand years, especially one that could potentially devastate Russia’s economy.
The Arab league aren’t as divided as they once were, since June last year they’ve become the dominant player in this region full stop, putting both the Israelis and the US back in their places, they’re not the defunct institution they once were, they seem to be defying US and Israel’s political interests every time there’s a conflict now, and favouring their own needs over the demands of the US and Israel. The world is changing faster than most of us realize.
This piece in Strategic Culture by Tom Luongo on 19th April is on-the-button saying precisely that!!
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2019/04/19/middle-east-resistance-is-stiffening.html
Thanks for the link, it was a good article.
The Saudi gas pipeline you refer to was actually an American pipeline, and the Saudis got a cut.
Also it wasn’t Saudi gas, it was Qatari gas. The US planned to simply steal the gas from Qatar, and use the Saudis as muscle. The Pars gas field is in Iranian and Qatari territory so the US planned to steal Iranian gas.
But as in Afghanistan, the US offer to Syria was we will build our pipeline, you get nothing, and if you complain, we will f*ck your country. Something the US did, when Syria and Iraq signed a much more inviting deal with Iran.
As for Russia, well they only got involved after the US stopped South Stream.
Russia has since invested in the Iranian pipeline, and is helping Iran build other gas pipelines, and doesn’t seem worried about a bit of competition.
The US woke up to the potential of natural gas a couple of decades too late, and decided to use military force to take over distribution, and crush any competitors.
I’m not sure where you got your information, but a quick search will show that most of it is incorrect.
PS you will notice that the US occupies the part of Syria that the pipeline would cover, and Russia controls the territory that the American pipeline would cover.
The two links you presented are from 2011. Where exactly does the Iranian-Iraqi-Syrian pipeline stand today?
On a related note, Iran-Iraq-Syria started building a commercial railroad before the “war” in Syria. Pro-Western elements on the ground derailed (pun intended) the project in blowing up parts of it, killing passengers and workers. The three countries have relaunched the project recently but only time will tell if the Anglo-Americans will disrupt it again.
The US started its terror war on Syria within weeks of the parties signing the agreement. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to work out that the US stopping Southstream, attempting to stop Northstream and the Iranian pipeline is designed to force Europe to buy its energy from American sources.
It’s geopolitical chess the US blocks Russian and Iranian gas, so Russia and Iran block American gas.
At the moment Russia and Iran are winning, because Northstream2 will be completed in months, and Iran is getting its pipeline to Pakistan built with Russian help that the US has blocked since the 1990’s, demanding that Pakistan and India must buy from the Bechtel Corporations TAPI pipeline. (It was the American refusal to pay the Taliban transit fees that caused the US invasion of Afghanistan.)
America is in decline, they have spent trillions trying to bully other nations into compliance, when it would have been much cheaper to pay the fair price.
And the tactic of forcing Afghanistan Pakistan Syria Russia Ukraine etc has failed.
All wars are about money.
All valid points. However, I don’t know if the US is losing (in decline, I think so). It destroyed all countries that aren’t aligned with it (as promulgated by the Rumsfeld-Cebrowski plan). I also can’t reconcile why Russia doesn’t lift a finger to help Syria and its current oil-crisis. Iran couldn’t even extent another line of oil credit to Syria recently due to the US sanctions.
Lessons sur le Colonialisme et ses effets…
Un magnifique Reportage pour vous sur ARTE,
en Français ou en Anglais
Through India’s Lens (4/4)
An Impossible Country
27 min
Available from 21/04/2019 to 28/04/2019
Three Indian photojournalists – Sudharak Olwe, Sanjit Das and Mansi Thapliyal – strive to expose India’s glaring inequalities: nomadic dancers in the villages of Maharashtra, farmers in Orissa dispossessed by aluminum giants, and the ‘untouchable’ rubbish collectors in the slums of Bombay.
https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/055945-004-A/through-india-s-lens-4-4/
Director :
Emma Tassy
Country :France
Year :2014
All wars are about money, tell that to the Islamic and Christian invaders who forced their religions on so many other people, on the odd occasion money is just the byproduct of wars and not the instigating factor. ‘All wars are about self interest’ is about the only honest and accurate thing you could say about wars, not “all wars are about money”, that’s only partially correct.
The demonization process of Putin and Russia in the MSM began just after 2003, before that Russia was in the good books.
Putin threatened to introduce 2 laws into Russian legislation at that time, and when he eventually did in 2005, the media unleashed hell on both Putin and Russia, and to this day it’s never stopped.
2 Russian laws are the reason for the war in Syria, not money, money’s just a tool in this war, it’s not the end goal at all, at least not for the US deep state and the New World Order it isn’t, other more important things other than money are at stake here. You think too small if you think this war is just about money and gas, it’s not, it’s about something else altogether. Ideology is much more important than wealth when it comes to control and power, and in today’s world, religion isn’t the only entity that promotes ideology, Putin’s fight is for survival of Ideology, and money is the tool being used to try and usurp one old ideology with a newer version, that’s the power struggle you see happening in Syria, not a fight for wealth.
May I answer your question,
“Where exactly does the Iranian-Iraqi-Syrian pipeline stand today?”
In limbo, just exactly where Putin wants to keep it.
No end to the war means no pipeline from either the Saudis or the Iranians, and no loss of Russian market share. Just a coincidence?
My thoughts exactly.
AL Tanf has always been the key and still is concerning the Saudi route, and in most of my comments on SF I’ve always said Putin would prefer to nuke Al Tanf instead of letting the Saudis build a gas pipeline through there.
The plan was actually inspired by the Israelis not the US, but since very early 2000’s the EU has been trying to find alternate sources of gas instead of depending on Russia so much.
The offer they made Assad was a brilliant one, not a bad one, it would’ve made Syria filthy rich, but Assad still refused, haven’t you read Assad’s own comments on the matter, I suggest you do.
He didn’t get a better offer from the Russians and Iranians that I’ve ever heard of, and their offer came long after the initial Saudi proposal anyway, perhaps 12 month or more after, so there was only one proposed venture on the table when Assad was first approached by the Saudis/Qataris, the Iranian proposal hadn’t even been thought of at that stage, I don’t know what your talking about when you say the Iranians made him a better offer, I think you’re somewhat confused about the timelines.
The Iranians did propose back in 2009 to build a gas pipeline to Turkey to supply the Turks with gas, but that was as far as it was going to go, the Russians weren’t too happy about that either, since they supplied most of Turkey’s gas needs at the time.
Ther Iranian venture was cooked up to counter the Saudi proposal, it wasn’t an alternative for Assad at the time of the initial Saudi proposal, so I think you need to do some checking.
Russia already supplies the EU with more than 30% of their Gas needs, you only have to pay attention to how the Italians and many others always seem to stick up for Putin on certain matters to realize it’s not just a financial gain the Russians benefit from by dominating the EU gas market, political influence is perhaps nearly as important to the Russians as the financial importance is. They can find buyers elsewhere now, but they can’t manipulate the market to get higher prices or retain the same sort of influence they do if they lose the EU market.
Just a few years ago the Russians sealed a deal to supply China with hundreds of billions of dollars worth of oil and gas, and it’s been flowing for some time now, and China wants even more, and Russia actually saves money by selling to China. Demand is very close to the source and easily shipped through pipes, they get good prices and a STABLE market, and most importantly for the Russians, they can produce more gas and oil for sale, and not deflate world oil and gas prices by doing so, at least not as much as they would by selling more on the open market, or allowing the Saudis to take over the EU market and destroy the markets current higher prices.
The higher world oil and gas prices Putin practically alone has managed to achieve by diligent enterprise and political endeavour, Putin is the main reason the world has higher fuel prices now. On a side note, haven’t you noticed the Saudis, who are usually the US and Israeli lapdogs, are not keeping to the US protocol of keeping oil and gas prices low as they used too, and lowering production instead of increasing it as they usually do, There’s a rebellion against the US and Israel that no one seems to notice, we will as prices go ever higher. They’ve been following Putin’s example and driving up prices to save their own economy, you do know they nearly went broke a few years ago adhering to US policy, but now they don’t, now they do what Putin does, make money mmmm.
But I’m thinking that’s all irrelevant now, Trumps not hell bent on destroying Putin like Obama was, and I think the war to build a gas pipe through Syria ended back in June last year, thanks to the Arab league, and to be honest I think this war is now about something completely different, it’s now a war that’s suiting just 3 main parties, and for entirely different reasons. The Russians benefit, the Israelis benefit, and the Turks benefit [the EU also benefit], that’s why this war is still ongoing, and the Saudi pipeline venture into the EU is dead in the water now, and can probably never be revived. Putin’s shown his resolve on that matter in no uncertain terms, I believe he’s done very little else to actually help Syria resolve the situation it’s in, but he’s made damn sure that the Saudi pipeline can never ever be built either.
I go all the way back to 2003 to see the reasons the war in Syria, by 2006 I could see Russia and the west coming to blows, by 2007 I knew Syria was about to be involved in the plan and I knew why, by 2008 I also knew there was probably going to be a war in Syria, and the reasons behind it, but I never ever expected it to last as long as it has.
I wrongly believed that Russia would end the uprising before it could take hold, and I never even dreamed they’d allow Isis to control nearly a third of Syria, which allowed the US to get a foot in the door, or let Erdogan dictate to Assad what can and can’t happen in his own country, that’s always bewildered me as to the reasons why, at least until just recently. Now I think I know why the war hasn’t ended, and it all leads back to Putin, the Turks and the Israelis are just hanging on for the ride, Putin’s the train pulling the other wagons behind now.
WHY IS THE WAR STILL GOING ON,
Trump said he wants to get out of Syria but can’t due to the deep state opposing his wish to leave, but Erdogan doesn’t want to leave Syria at all, he’s in fact threatening to invade more areas of Syria, and it’s probably only the US that’s stopping him, Putin has joint patrols with Turkey in eastern Syria and the Astana agreement in place for Idlib, nothing to worry about hey, Putin’s fully on Assad’s side, poor Assad, he should have taken up the Saudi offer I think, F-ck Putin the whore.
There is no Saudi pipeline that is a figment of your imagination.
The Qatar Saudi Syria Turkey pipeline was an American proposal.
How could Saudi Arabia shutdown Russian and Iranian pipelines to ensure Europe bought Qatari gas, and how did Saudi Arabia propose to acquire the Qatari gas?
It’s always been the US behind the pipeline it’s the exact same MO the US used for the TAPI pipeline.
You are quite dumb aren’t you, how could the Saudis shut down the Russia’s supply of gas to the EU, easy, corner the market using the same tactics they’ve always used against Russia, over produce and underprice, what rock do you live under. It’s only over the last 2 years that the Saudi’s have aligned their pricing to Putins, we pay higher prices now and the oil and gas producing countries make more money, the Saudis are no longer a threat anyway, they’re enjoying defacto cooperating with Putin now, and not listening to the US anymore, now they’re running budget surpluses again, unlike the budget deficits they used to run doing the US’s bidding.
And why do you keep insisting the Saudis can’t supply gas, that it can only be Qatari gas that the EU buys, the Saudis have nearly as much gas as the Iranians and Qataris do, they could decide to start selling their own gas too you know. Where do you get your information, LGBTQI dirty magazines articles.
Do you know anything at all about geopolitics.
The Russians have since signed a 100 billion contract with China, do you think they’re really worried about the south stream venture coming to nothing.
And Russia didn’t really like it when Iran stole Russian market share in Turkey, they used to have 73% of that market, they don’t anymore. And you say Russia doesn’t mind a bit of competition, but I say no one likes competition, especially not Putin the Tyrant, LOL, Russia doesn’t mind a bit of competition, LOL again.
Russia’s financing Iranian pipelines to where exactly? are you sure about that, I’d very much like to see you try and link me an article proving even one Iranian pipeline to anywhere exists, or is even under construction with Russian financing, what BS.
A few Russian companies have been buying and reselling Iranian oil, and Putin also encouraged the French and Italians to defy US sanctions and commit to a project in Iran, but that about as much as you’ll find about Russia financing the Iranian oil ventures, especially ones that would steal Russian market share.
What the Russian have done is facilitate a new relationship between China and Iran, this is why I say you have no idea of the geopolitical interests that are shaping events, this is what you should be talking about, not the loss of south stream. The Russians are selling the Chinese 100 bill worth of oil and gas, and the Chinese want 2 or 3 times that much, but they don’t want to buy it all from Russia which is totally capable of providing it. So why doesn’t China just buy all it’s oil and gas from Russia then, because China doesn’t want to become totally dependant on them, China likes having a reliable friendly country to buy half it’s resource from, but realizes that being totally dependant on Russia is problematic and unwise.
If you actually look at what’s going on you’ll find all the investments in Iran and Syria have already been made, but by China not Russia, and they’ll be buying that Iranian oil for their own use, not to resell on the open market as the Russian companies do.
And because it’s China buying Iranian and Russian gas and oil, they won’t be dealing in petro dollars either, so the open market price won’t be affected too much either, keeping the world market prices higher for the countries that export oil and gas. Price and resource security for the 3 nations involved, Russia, China, and Iran, and higher prices for all the other oil and gas producing nations, this deal will be a beacon of hope for all those that would like some of the same, and the Arab league is watching intently.
I think you only see all the small things and miss the big picture altogether, there are more layers on this cake than you realize, you only seem to see the cream on top of the cake.
If my assertion that Putin is prolonging this uprising/civil war/military invasion, is incorrect, then why the F–k isn’t it over yet, all parties except for Erdogan said in June 2017 Assad could stay in power, and the Arab League restarted negotiations with, not only Assad, but Iran as well, many months before that, and in January last year Trump told the Kurds he wanted to leave Syria, so why is the war still ongoing. I used to think it was Erdogan’s shenanigans holding up the show but not anymore, it’s Putin’s realization that the Iranian pipeline into the EU stealing Russian market share is far more expensive than the cost of continuing this cost negative war in Syria. When the war ends he’ll have to allow that Iranian pipeline to go ahead, and he doesn’t want it to go ahead, he wants to continue this war for as long as he can, he is the reason the war is still going on in Syria, not Trump, not Erdogan or Nuttyyahoo, he’s the one benefitting the most from it’s continuation now.
PPS
The reason your link to the conspiracy site was probably deleted, is because it is a conspiracy site, with a dash of truth.
It is run by a Russian Jew by the name of Michel Chossudovky.
Globalresearch is an “anti-Western” website that can’t distinguish between serious analysis and discreditable junk — and so publishes both. It’s basically the moonbat equivalent to Infowars or WND. https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Globalresearch
Reading crop circles would be a more reliable source.
I don’t mean to entitle myself to answer for him but I think the part of this comment that wrote “Deleted comment and link, SF is upset with someone, now I’m curious as to what it was, damm.” was in reference to DontBelieveEitherPropaganda’s comment showing as spam.
To come back on your comment and in reference to rationalwiki, are you suggesting that some Arabs with box cutters pulled off 9/11?
While the content of globalresearch may be debatable, it isn’t always and categorically wrong either. The following article, for instance, depicts a verifiable reality on Russia’s role in partitioning Syria:
No, Assad Didn’t “Win” the War, He Was Compelled by Putin to “Compromise” — by Andrew Korybko
https://www.globalresearch.ca/assad-didnt-win-war-compelled-putin-compromise/5674600
I agree that globalresearch posts good and bad articles, I didn’t realize that DontBelieve post had been marked as spam, I thought it was a link to a story at globalresearch that was marked as spam.
As I don’t know what was cut, or the exact source I can’t tell.
If DontBelieve had just copied and pasted the story, and not credited the author, it could get flagged for plagiarism.
What I do know however is that most of his post that I replied to was factually incorrect.
Not sure why it’s marked as spam. Those who read DontBelieve’s comment stated he copied-pasted parts of an article from GlobalResearch and a link to it (thus acknowledging the source).
ConscienceWilling’s (debatable) comment still echoes an unspoken reality in Syria: Russia engaged on all sides. The GR link from my previous comment depicts it accurately.
Please tell me what was factually incorrect, for my part your asserting the Iranians made Assad a better offer is ridiculous, that offer wasn’t even on the table at the time the Saudi’s approached Assad with their offer. So I think you should explain further when you say I’m factually incorrect on whatever it is you think I’m wrong about , but I can tell you right now there weren’t 2 offers on the table at all as you stated, the Saudi offer long preceded the Iranian offer, and the Iranian counter proposal was devised by the Russians as an alternative, but only long after the Saudi proposal was made.
“but I can tell you right now there weren’t 2 offers on the table at all
as you stated, the Saudi offer long preceded the Iranian offer,”
I can’t find a source for the date of your Saudi pipeline but it was reported in august 2009 that Qatar made a proposal https://www.thenational.ae/business/qatar-seeks-gas-pipeline-to-turkey-1.520795
The Wall Street journal reported in July 2011 that Syria Iraq and Iran had signed a deal, and given the complexity of this type of negotiation 2 years would seem modest. Saudi Arabia has no gas.
“the Iranian counter proposal was devised by the Russians as an alternative,
but only long after the Saudi proposal was made”
The Russians did not get involved in Syria until 2015.
Your alleged truths are just BS
You said that both the Saudi and Iranian offers were both on the table at the same time, and that the Iranian offer was the better one so Assad accepted it over the Saudi proposal, and yet you’ve just linked articles that dispute your assertion of the timeframes and how the proposals unfolded, and you say I’m full of BS LOL.
Officially the proposal may have been announced at a later date than I claim I was aware of the proposal, but discussions on the matter had been taking place much earlier than the official Saudi proposal was made. You may not find any articles related to the matter, but I recollect reading plenty of pertinent articles at that time, perhaps as early as late 2006 there were reports of Saudi delegations to Damascus and speculation on whether or not there would be a proposal of this type. At the time the US and it’s European friends, especially France, were eager to find a solution to Europe’s dependence on Russian gas.
As to Russia not getting involved in the war until 2015, that’s what I find really shameful, especially since I believe the war was only instigated as a means of destroying Russia’s economy, and Syria was just a casualty of that war. And that was only because Assad chose to stand by his ally instead of getting rich as he could and probably [with hindsight] should have have.
I know that you know that Global research is opposed to Russia and pro US/Israel, but I also read in one of your comments that you occasionally find some of their articles accurate, here’s one of theirs that I also find reasonably accurate and devoid of their usual propaganda, I haven’t read it in full, but what I have read is as accurate as I think it can be, and also gives you a few facts to enlighten you.
But here’s a copy from part of your comment to me before you do,
“The Saudi gas pipeline you refer to was actually an American pipeline, and the Saudis got a cut.
Also it wasn’t Saudi gas, it was Qatari gas. The US planned to simply steal the gas from Qatar, and use the Saudis as muscle. The Pars gas field is in Iranian and Qatari territory so the US planned to steal Iranian gas.
But as in Afghanistan, the US offer to Syria was we will build our pipeline, you get nothing, and if you complain, we will f*ck your country. Something the US did, when Syria and Iraq signed a much more inviting deal with Iran.
As for Russia, wel l they only got involved after the US stopped South Stream”.
You seem to get only half your facts right, Yes the Qataris do have the gas but the Saudis have the oil you know, and Europe wants both at a good price. And no the US wouldn’t have owned the pipeline, the Saudis would have, and the US was the muscle in the enterprise, not the Saudis.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-secret-stupid-saudi-us-deal-on-syria/5410130
“You said that both the Saudi and Iranian offers were both on the table at the same time”
NO I didn’t.
This is from your previous comment,
-“But as in Afghanistan, the US offer to Syria was we will build our pipeline, you get nothing, and if you complain, we will f*ck your country. Something the US did, when Syria and Iraq signed a much more inviting deal with Iran”-
and this one too, -“Saudi Arabia has no gas”-
.
Firstly the offer the Saudis/US and Qatari puppets made was excellent, not terrible as you asserted, and the initial approaches were made way back in 2007 or even 2006, even if officially it may have been in 2009 the final proposal was made public. And Assad told us all the reason for him refusing to go along with the plan, and it wasn’t because the US had threatened to destroy his country if he didn’t, they were all actually kissing his butt at that time, the real reason he didn’t agree to the proposal was this, he didn’t want to harm Russia’s economy, it was as simple as that, there was no other reason.
Perhaps I misunderstood your comment, initially I thought you were suggesting that both offers were on the table at the same time, and that Assad had chosen one over the other, on re reading I realize you didn’t say that at all, but it was implied in the way you wrote it, at least I thought it was.
And I don’t know if the deal Iran offered was “a much more inviting deal with Iran” or not, but it’s definitely made Assad’s future hold on government very tenable, and also brought the whole middle east into turmoil, so no matter how good the deal was and sounded at the time [I suspect it was inferior to the Saudi proposal anyway], it’s turned out to be a bad deal in the end, even if the Syrians were told by their ally Russia to go along with it, as I believe they were, more inviting, mmmm, the lesser of 2 evils is the way I seen the Iranian proposal, and Iran didn’t propose it by themselves, imagine Iran backstabbing the only powerful friend they have in the world by stealing their market share, without their allies approval, no, it would never have happened unless it somehow benefitted the Russians and they approved of it, way back before they got involved in the military phase you seem so concerned about.
And why would you say the Saudis have no gas, did you actually mean the Saudis’ don’t export any of their own gas, which they have lots and lots of, they don’t even really need the Qatari gas at all, they have enough for themselves, the whole EU market, and still more left over, that’s if they wanted to start selling it that is.
You call me a bull crapper and yet post stuff like this, LOL.
I’m 55 years old and can remember threats from the Saudis concerning Assad and gas ventures going all the way back to at least 2007, that’s 2 years before the initial official Saudi proposal, so the threats you allude to in your comment [“we will f*ck your country”], have been going on since long before either the Saudi proposal in 2009 or the Iranian proposal in 2011, so that part of your comment I do agree with in part.
Have you ever read Assad’s official statement concerning the Saudi proposal, if you had you’d understand why it’s so silly to say Russia only got involved in 2015. Russia was involved as soon as Syria was considered a candidate by the Israeli and US plan to quickly destroy Russia’s economy, by devastating its gas export revenue from the EU market [30% of their total revenue base at the time], they would turn Russia from a super power into a run of the mill country within a decade if that had succeeded. In 2003 the US and EU’s desire to diminish EU dependence on Russian gas, was all about curbing Russia’s growing influence in the EU, but after 2006 it became all about the destruction of the Russian revenue base.
Putin introduced 2 laws into Russian legislation way back in 2005 that made everything happen, the Saudi proposal, the Syrian uprising, the Chinese fall from grace, everything goes back to those 2 simple little laws that Putin wanted but the new world order didn’t want him to have. The war in Syria was a war between the New World Order and the Old World Order, but it’s not anymore, now the pipeline projects are no longer relevant, the Arab League have seen to that because of Putin’s urgings, now the war has become something different altogether. Israel’s security is now at stake and Putin wants to redraw the lines to not only accommodate them and everyone else [not the US], but to also gain even more influence in the region than he already has, which is a lot already.
I appreciate people who can keep all these complexities straight, and who did what, and bother to tell, so slower brains can also get an insight instead of just getting confused.
Saudis could make no proposal relating to the Qatari Gas field. In fact, that gas-field is shared approximately 50-50 with Iran and the original proposal was by the Government of Qatar, independently of Iran and travelling to the Mediterranean and to Turkey via Saudi Arabia, Jordan (with a spur to Jerusalem) and Syria and on to Turkey. The Saudis were strong proponents of this route as they believed they could (a) shut out Iranian Gas from the Pipe and (b) ensure a supply of Gas to Jerusalem. The Iran-Iraq-Syria-Turkey pipeline bringing Iranian Gas from the Gas-field to Europe is the preferred route for many reasons, not least that the length of pipeline is far shorter. The Qatari Gov’t now appears to agree on the manner of transportation of their Gas to Europe via the Iran-Iraq-Syria-Turkey Route, thereby shutting out Saudis, Jordan and Jerusalem.
That is an enormous part of the entirety of the Syrian crisis.
If you only think of it from a rational economic aspect, Russia is the best gas supplier for the EU gas market full stop, stable supply, cheap, established economic and diplomatic ties with a stable government, all good things. But all the way back in 2003, perhaps even earlier, the US began looking at ways of divulging Russia from that windfall arrangement, the French went ballistic and came up with all sorts of proposals, and lot’s of the other players involved today also did the same thing. If you can’t find at least a hundred different propositions from several different players to take over Russian oil and gas market share into the EU and other markets like Turkey I’d be surprised, and all pre Syrian war too, but there haven’t been any since the war except a Russian approved proposal by Iran, wonder why?
In reality there are only two pipeline proposals, one that will harm Russia’s economy immensely, and the other that will do less harm, that’s the only important factor, not who supplies it or where it comes from, that just being pedantic saying it’s not really a Saudi venture because they’ll actually be shipping Qatari gas.
The initial proposal was from the Saudis at the behest of the Israelis and the US, and regardless of who’s oil or gas was going to be being delivered, which in itself is totally irrelevant, it could come from the moon and it wouldn’t matter, the fact that it was going to steal Russian market share and influence on the EU countries it supplied, was the only relevant factor behind current machinations.
That proposal is shown here and was the original version, but it also shows the initial Iranian proposal too, and Turkey wasn’t included in that, Turkey was only included when Erdogan seemed to first start switching to Putin’s side against the US.
https://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/is-the-fight-over-a-gas-pipeline-fuelling-the-worlds-bloodiest-conflict/news-story/74efcba9554c10bd35e280b63a9afb74
Even though the Saudis don’t export their gas and only use it domestically, they have massive supplies of their own you know, more than enough to not only supply their own domestic market for hundreds of years, but the EU market as well, and that’s without even a puff of Qatari gas, all they have to do is start developing the fields they already have. Just because they don’t sell their own gas and prefer to sell the Qatari gas doesn’t mean they can’t, I suspect if the proposal would have gone ahead we would have seen them start developing those gas fields and take a share of the gas export market too. Maybe they still will too, now they’ve abandoned US policy to overproduce and keep prices low, and now cleverly following Putin’s example and finally making some real money, hell they might even start exporting cheap Saudi gas to the US and destroy their market in the end, the way the Arab league have been dealing with the US lately that wouldn’t surprise me in the least.
The piece written by Korybko in Global Research is full of holes and pays no regard whatsoever to (either) geography or real-politik on the ground in northern Syria. See what I wrote above in response to Omega. It is necessarily short but I hope I made clear the points I wished to communicate.
Having read the piece in Global Research by Andrew Korybko I’d like to challenge his thesis on a number of fronts.
In the context of the Idlib deescalation zone that stretches from West Aleppo (suburbs) through Idlib to Jisr al-SHughur to the Mountains overlooking the Coastal Plain on which sits Latakia and one of Russia’s two bases in Syria and southwards to just north of Hama and north to Afrin and on to the Turkish Border I wonder whether Putin and/or Erdogan and/or Mr Korybko have considered just how far south a 20 mile Border Zone along the Turkish Border might stretch? Certainly not as far as posited by Mr Korybko.
Within that deescalation zone in Idlib, alone, sits a native population of some 1.75 Million Citizens of Syria who have indicated no particular love or affection for the ISIS / al-Qaeda / Nusra Front who have imposed themselves upon them ……. call those Terrorists whatever they describe themselves as today but numbering some 500,000 persons with whom they have been saddled by the creation of the deescalation zone. Whatever about a Zone along the Border with Turkey, any such Zone could not stretch so far south as Idlib or to West Aleppo. It might include Afrin but that is about it. In time, ,I therefore look forward to seeing Idlib and its hinterland being liberated.
While Mr Korybko seems certain about the Kurds, he appears singularly unaware of the fact that more or less directly east of Aleppo sits Raqqa, a City bombed into the stone-age by the Americans, supposedly on behalf of the SDF/Kurds. I don’t believe, for one moment that the Syrian inhabitants of that City and its hinterland will accept Jurisdiction over them by either an autonomous Kurdish Province or by Turks, whatever else he believes Mr Putin and Mr Erdogan may have agreed among themselves about the status of the towns of Manbij and Kobane. Mr Korybko appears wholly unaware of the fact that Raqqa and surrounds, while home to a very considerable Kurd Population, is actually majority Syrian Arab and Assyrian.
Even further east, in the heartlands of the ancient Assyrian population that have no interest whatsoever in becoming a part of a Kurdish statelet and are steadfast in their support for the central Government in Damascus, lies al-Hasakah and stretching north to the Turkish Border at Nusaybin. That entire area around al-Hasakah remained entirely loyal to Damascus throughout the war and while the Kurds may claim this to be a part of Kurdistan, it is, in fact, the centre of the ancient Assyrian civilization and is today wholly loyal to Damascus. Kurds are a minority.
There is no unbroken area of Kurdish majority population between the Kurdistan of northern Iraq and the Kurd population centered from Raqqa north to Afrin through Manbij and Kobane.
Mr Korybko also appears to have completely forgottten the Christian Population of northern Syria including both Assyrians and …….. ARMENIANS! If anyone believes for one second that Armenians who received shelter in Syria from the Kurd -led Ottoman slaughter of Armenian Christians 100 years ago will stand for a Kurdish statelet they have another think coming to them!!
Any attempt by anyone, whether Russian, American, Turk or Kurd to seek to impose a Kurd statelet on the Armenian and Assyrian Christian Population of Northern Syria really hasn’t learned the basics of the alphabet of Syria.
It wasn’t my link and I didn’t see it, I was just curious as to what it was since SF deleted it and called it spam, and I was hoping the person who posted it would post it again so I could read it.
I think it was a post from Don’tBelieveEitherPropoganda judging by the comments from HardHawk, and anything SF banns I want to see, don’t you?
Don’t agree with your conclusions.
what not even one of them, that’s ok, I don’t agree with anything at all some people say too, everyone has an opinion and a right to express it.
Agree with you, couldent say it better than you, thanks, I have been saying this for years and only received shit, Many people think of Russia as a new religion and Putin as its prophet! The only real partner that Asad and Syria have is Iran, Iran has been helping Syria for 30 years now and they are together the Resistance against Zionist expansion in ME, but Russia and Israel are partner, The closest think thank to Putin and co tell this very open , in Sputnik they called Israel for “Strategic Partner”, The deal about Golan was made between Trump and Putin in Helsinki ,
Fake positive things comes from Syrian enemies.This is bullshit.Let Russia sell his s-400.Already Erdogan fake good input troubles Syria.
I’m not convinced that Andrew Korybko who write for Global Research is correct. He’s been feeding this idea that Putin and Nuttanyahoo are allies for quite a while, to the apparent detriment of Syria. Well, to start with israel’s war on Syria is lost – Israel lost! No two ways about it. There is nothing israel can do about that, and it is a heavy blow. But in public it would be incredibly stupid to try to rub it in israel’s face. Diplomacy is by far the best way to go.
Sure israel will keep causing trouble for Syria, as it always has done – always. That is not going to end whatever is going on in Syria. This is the reality of living next to the jewish state (with no defined borders).
Then there is the big picture. US is trying to ignite a war with Iran and Venezuela. Golan annexation has united Arabs, including the Saudis. Libya (and quite possibly Egypt) is going against the globalists now. There is so much turmoil at the moment and it is quite important to make sure that the dominoes fall the right way in the end. Syria’s suffering is not over but they were rescued from the abyss, which also served Russia’s vital interests. It is hugely significant that other positive developments in the world take place as well. To me it seems that Russia/Putin is on the ball with all of them. Syria just needs to hang in there for now. They will be ok in the end.
Happy Easter! Love and Peace to all, especially to the club of demented key-board warriors who are bringing so much fun to the site. Thank you.
Happy Easter to you too, and I still root for people to survive the idiot wars and ticking time-bombs and we don’t leave this beautiful earth to the viruses, spiders and cockaroaches only.