Photos:Putin's Order to Withdraw Russian Troops from Syria Message to Washington

                                

Russian President Vladimir Putin's order to withdraw the country's forces from Syria was meant to disarms the US from any excuse to keep its troops in the region, Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of Rai al-Youm newspaper, said.

"Addressing the Russian pilots, Putin announced that the mission is accomplished. He, as the highest-ranking official in the Russian Armed Forces, issued certain orders in this regard and ordered most of the Russian pilots and fighter jets to leave Syria and return home," Atwan wrote on Tuesday.

He stressed that Putin's order had a message to the US. "The Russian president wanted the US not to have a pretext to keep its forces in Iraq and Syria."The Russian leader made the announcement at the Humeimim air base in Syria’s coastal province of Lattakia.Accompanied by defense minister Sergey Shoygu, Putin said Russian and Syrian armies had achieved their mission to destroy the ISIL in just over two years.

He said the two countries’ forces would respond with power strikes if “terrorists raise their heads” in Syria.
Addressing Russian servicemen gathered at the base, he said, “The task of fighting armed bandits here in Syria, a task that it was essential to solve with the help of extensive use of armed force, has for the most part, been solved and solved spectacularly. I congratulate you. You have shown the best qualities of a Russian soldier.”
In the televised speech, Putin said he had ordered the military to withdraw a “significant part” of the Russian contingent in Syria. “Friends, the motherland is waiting for you,” he said. “If the terrorists again raise their heads, we will deal such blows to them they have never seen.”