Russia news: What has Russia got to do with Syria? Why are Putin and Assad allies?
WORLD WAR 3 fears have piqued again after Donald Trump called out Vladimir Putin and declared he will strike back in response to the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria. What has Russia got to do with Syria? Why are Putin and Assad allies?
Ex-UK Ambassdor calls for Russia to be punished over Syria attack
The American president recently tweeted “Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice, new and smart!” after a suspected poison gas attack killed 80 Syrian people.
As a result, a number of countries are now trying to pressure Russia into breaking its close relationship with the Assad regime.
But why is Russia backing Syria in the first place?
In theory, Russia is in Syria to fight so-called Islamic State (ISIS), but Vladimir Putin has also attacked other groups that do not support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Some of these groups are supported by many Western countries.
The Russian-Syrian relationship goes back to the Cold War times, when the Soviet Union gained influence in Syria by giving aid and arms in the 1970s.
The relationship, however, gradually grew faint and faded after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and stayed like that until Putin and Assad were elected presidents in their respected countries in 2000.
At the time, the two did not have close relationship but in the mid-2000s, Russia began expanding the Russian military in the Middle East, hoping to be a great power again.
The Arab Spring - or a Russian Summer?
Following the Arab Spring, the Russian support in Syria increased dramatically.
And when Libya overthrew Muammar Gaddafi, their long-term leader (with politicians in Western capital quietly taking pleasure), Russia viewed it as an undermining of their influence in the Middle East.
As a result, Putin had to find allies elsewhere. Assad and Syria quickly became the obvious choice.
A chance to flex muscles
The on-going conflict, as a result of the chemical weapons attack, is the first time since then Russia has had a change to test their expanded military.
Putin now has the possibility to show Russia of as a great power, and with this years spring approaching - instead of bringing flowers and sunshine, he is bringing weapons of mass destruction.
However, Russia today revealed a secret phone line has been set up between Moscow and the US as the former Soviet state claims it hopes to avoid any further conflict,
The Kremlin said it is very important to prevent steps that could threaten to raise tensions in the already war-ravaged Syria.
The news come as British ministers are due to gather this afternoon to discuss whether to join the US and France in a possible military attack on Syria that threatens to bring Western and Russian forces into direct confrontation.
Asked whether the line between the Russian and US militaries was being used to avoid Russian casualties in the event of a US strike, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters:"The line is used and it is active.”