Assad Comes to Daddy in Moscow - Daily Beast

Syria’s embattled dictator Bashar al-Assad made a surprise visit to the Kremlin. No reporters in Russia’s state-controlled press were informed of his arrival on Tuesday night; it was only when Assad had already departed home for Syria that Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, informed journalists of the talks. Only afterwards were the photos and on-camera welcome by Putin released.

According to one U.S. diplomat who spoke to The Daily Beast on the condition of anonymity, the U.S. embassy in Moscow was caught completely unaware of the trip. “The theories [for why Putin extended the invitation to Assad] are a) stick it to the West, b) show the West that Russia is the place to come for consultations with Assad—i.e. if you want a deal to get rid of this guy, you’ll need to come through us, or c) consultations before the Lavrov-Kerry-Saudi-Turkish trilats later this week.”

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