Speaker of Russia's upper house: Russia has no plans to deploy regular ground forces to Syria
According to Valentina Matviyenko, the Speaker of Russia’s Federation Council, Moscow has no plans to deploy regular ground troops to Syria, TASS reported.
"Russia had no plans to participate in the ground operation in Syria, we don’t plan to send troops to Syria, we have made it clear from the beginning," Matviyenko told reporters. "Our goal is not to conduct a ground operation in Syria but to provide our Aerospace Force’s support to the Syrian government forces.”
Nevertheless, Matviyenko did acknowledge that if the Syrian government is able to retake Aleppo, it will be necessary for Russia to continue its counterterrorism operation in the region.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, declined to comment on the possibility of sending ground troops to Syria.
"All tactical questions should be addressed to my counterparts in the Defense Ministry," Peskov stated.
Russian special forces have been active on the ground in Syria since the military’s operation began in September of 2015.
Last week, it was announced that special forces from Russia’s Republic of Chechnya have been deployed to Syria where they are tasked with protecting Russia’s Khmeimim air base in the province of Latakia.