Russia stood by Syrian President Bashar Assad who has stepped down in a trying time, said Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy to international organizations in Vienna.
"Bashar Assad and his family are in Moscow. Russia never leaves its friends in a trouble," the diplomat wrote on his Telegram channel emphasizing this difference between Russia and the United States.
Earlier, a source told TASS that Russia had granted asylum to Assad and his family for humanitarian reasons.
Syria’s armed opposition forces launched a large-scale offensive on government troops in the Aleppo and Idlib governorates on November 27. By the evening of December 7, Assad’s opponents seized several large cities, including Aleppo, Hama, Deir ez-Zor, Daraa, and Homs. On Sunday morning, they entered Damascus as government troops withdrew from the city. Following intra-Syrian talks, President Assad stepped down and fled the country.
