Russia's recent military deployment in Syria was confirmed last July when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad admitted his army's manpower shortage that stands behind the rapidly losses to favor of rebels, Western diplomats told Zaman al-Wasl.
The diplomats assured that Assad has frequently requested direct ground military support for his outstretched army and not to be limited to arms supplies and training.
On July 26, In a televised speech, Assad pledged to win his country's long-running civil war while acknowledging his troops are struggling to maintain control over territory amid lack of manpower.
Assad army once had around 300,000 members, but it has been significantly reduced in size by deaths, defections, and a rise in draft dodging.
Assad tried to justify why the Syrian army has given up some areas of Syria, including the northwestern city of Idlib. He said it was due to military priorities.
"There is a lack of human resources... Everything is available [for the army], but there is a shortfall in human capacity," Assad said.
"But that doesn't mean we can talk about collapse... We will resist... The armed forces are capable of defending the motherland."
Days ago, Syria's foreign minister Walid al-Moualem said his country would request Russian troops to fight alongside its troops if the need arose but denied there were combat troops there now. A such statement was refuted by satellite images on Russian fighters jets in air base in coastal region, Assad's heartland.
Russian military support was so far limited to arms supplies and training on new weapons from Russia, Moualem said, adding that his country's ties with Moscow were strategic.
The Syrian army has faced a series of battlefield setbacks since March: It lost most of Idlib to an opposition alliance including the Syrian al-Qaeda branch, the Nusra Front, and important areas of the southern border region to mainstream groups of the self-styled Southern Front.
The Russian government said on Thursday its military support for Damascus was aimed at fighting terrorism, safeguarding Syria's statehood and preventing a "total catastrophe" in the region.
Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told his U.S. counterpart on Friday that Moscow's military activities in Syria were "defensive in nature," a senior U.S. defense official said after the 50-minute phone call.
"He said that the Russian activities were defensive in nature and that they were designed to honor commitments made to the Syrian government," the official said, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, without elaborating.
Washington has voiced concern about Russia's military buildup in Syria, which the Pentagon has said appears to be designed at establishing an air operations hub in the country.
Washington has voiced concern about Russia's military buildup in Syria, which the Pentagon has said appears to be designed at establishing an air operations hub in the country.
On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday Assad has to go but the timing of his departure had to be decided through negotiation, Reuters reported.
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He said of Assad's removal: "it doesn't have to be on day one or month one ... there is a process by which all the parties have to come together to reach an understanding of how this can best be achieved." (With agencies)
Zaman Al Wasl
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