MOSCOW — Russia will start reducing its military presence in Syria with the removal of an aircraft carrier and other battleships from the Mediterranean Sea, chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff said on Friday.
"In accordance with the decision of Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces Vladimir Putin, the Defense Ministry is beginning to reduce the Armed Forces grouping in Syria," Gen. Valery Gerasimov told the state news agency Tass.
The drawdown begins with Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, which was used for the first time to launch war planes into combat in mid-November, according to the Associated Press.
Gerasimov did not indicate when or what, if any, further force reductions would occur.
Moscow has supported government troops of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s civil war, and allowed Assad’s forces to retake Aleppo in December, paving the way for a ceasefire brokered by Turkey and Russia.
Putin’s decision for the reduction coincides with the announcement of further peace negotiations in Astana, Kazakhstan, later in January with Russia, Iran, and Turkey as potential mediators for the Syrians.
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