Foreign Policy - Russia

Putin defied Obama and intensified airstrikes in Syria hours after speaking personally with Donald Trump shortly after the 2016 election

• Russia renewed a bombing campaign in northern Syria hours after a recently-elected Donald Trump spoke on the phone with Russian president Vladimir Putin. “Russia launched a major military offensive in Syria on Tuesday, hours after President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the need to join forces to combat international terrorism. […] Trump, who expressed respect for Putin during the campaign, spoke with the Russian leader by phone Monday. The two leaders discussed a range of issues, including ‘threats and challenges facing both nations,’ the Trump transition team said in a statement. The Kremlin said Putin congratulated Trump on his election triumph, and the leaders agreed on ‘uniting efforts in the fight with the common enemy No. 1 -- international terrorism and extremism.’ The Kremlin pledged to build a relationship based on mutual respect and non-interference.” (USA Today, November 16, 2016)
• Russia’s renewed aerial assault of Aleppo after Putin’s conversation with Trump was in direct defiance of Obama Administration efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the city. “Russia launched new strikes in Syria on Tuesday involving carrier-borne jets and long-range missiles as opposition activists on the ground reported that the first airstrikes in nearly a month struck the besieged, rebel-held parts of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. […] The Russian blitz began hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump discussed Syria over the phone and agreed on the need to combine efforts in the fight against what the Kremlin called their No. 1 enemy – ‘international terrorism and extremism.’ The Obama administration has been trying to negotiate a cease-fire in Aleppo, a city that has become the epicenter of the war between President Bashar Assad and rebels fighting to topple him, some of whom receive U.S. aid. From the militants' side, al-Qaida's Syrian affiliate is fighting alongside the rebels, but the Islamic State group has no presence in Aleppo city.” (Chicago Tribune, November 16, 2016)