By Panthea Garshasbi
There are claims that Bashar al-Assad was in Moscow as attacks by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) began. With the Syrian army retreating from key cities and defensive lines collapsing, rumors about Assad and his family’s presence in Moscow have gained significant traction in the media. Assad’s lack of public appearances over the past 4-5 days lends credibility to these speculations. Could this absence explain why the Syrian army offered no resistance during these assaults? If the president and commander-in-chief has indeed left the country, can his military continue to fight?
If Assad is still in Syria, why hasn’t he appeared publicly? Could his absence, alongside the military’s unchallenged retreat, be part of a broader plan orchestrated by the U.S. and Russia? The Syrian army’s swift withdrawal in the face of the HTS offensive stands out as the most tangible outcome of recent developments. The fall of Aleppo and Hama, shifts in internal borders in northern Syria, and the sudden disappearance of Iranian forces all point to the complexity of the unfolding scenario. Moreover, terrorist groups now control key strategic highways—M4 (linking western Syria to the northeast) and M5 (the Damascus-Aleppo highway)—which has paralyzed critical logistical flows.
Simultaneously, Israel and Lebanon/Hezbollah have reached a ceasefire agreement. Netanyahu, in the midst of these developments, issued a warning to Assad, stating that Hezbollah’s external support channels would be severed despite the ceasefire. Shortly afterward, HTS launched its attacks. It appears Russia and Syria were caught unprepared, retreating immediately and abandoning key cities.
In Ukraine, President Zelensky has stated that he is open to ceding territory to Russia in exchange for Ukraine’s NATO membership. These remarks come as the U.S. and European nations continue to supply Ukraine with long-range weapons for strikes on Russian soil and announce new aid packages. This raises the question: why is Zelensky, who previously declared, “We will fight until all our lands, including Crimea, are liberated,” now discussing a deal that resembles surrender?
Has Trump influenced this shift? Trump has previously claimed that if he were president, he could end the war in Ukraine in a single day. Are behind-the-scenes negotiations involving Trump, the U.S., and Israel—who seek to advance their strategic objectives in Syria—already underway? Could a joint operation be in progress, aiming to alter borders, weaken Damascus, and pave the way for a decentralized administration in Syria?
This scenario seems increasingly plausible in light of recent developments. Turkey, which claims to remain uninvolved in the conflict but implicitly supports the U.S. project, has highlighted Russian and Syrian mistakes without directly blaming them. Ankara’s stance further reinforces the possibility of a coordinated land and position swap in Ukraine and Syria
