When Vladimir Putin landed in Syria late last year, he was greeted by President Bashar Assad not as a foreign dignitary, but as the guardian of the embattled nation. “Syria has been preserved as a sovereign and independent state,” Putin told soldiers assembled at the Khmeimim airbase, Russia’s flag flying alongside Syria’s. “You are returning victorious to your homes, your families, parents, wives, children and friends.”
However, his mission to declare victory, order troops home and accept the gratitude of a president whose staying power had baffled the entire Western world was just a layover. Next was Egypt and a $21-billion nuclear energy deal. Then to Turkey, where he and President Tayyip Erdogan chastised the United States for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
