President-elect Donald Trump publicly urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to reach an “immediate ceasefire” deal with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in a late-night social media post Saturday evening amid reports that Syria’s capital of Damascus had fallen to a rebel attack.
In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote that “there should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin” in the wake of Bashar al-Assad, Putin’s ally, being ousted by a Turkish-backed rebel force.
Reports indicated that the Syrian leader fled the capital in a plane with close advisers; that plane may then have crashed. His whereabouts and status are unknown.
“Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse,” Trump said.
He added: “I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is waiting!”
Trump’s comments came just hours after he met with Zelensky in Paris on Saturday for the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral.
His arrival in Washington in January is expected to upend the war in Ukraine as many believe that the Trump administration will end military aid to the country in an attempt to bring the two sides to a peace agreement — a move that could more than likely be to Russia’s benefit if Ukraine is suddenly cut off from the bulk of western support.
Trump’s statement continued: “Likewise, Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness. They have ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians.”
Ukraine’s president has said the actual number of slain troops is around 43,000 since Russia’s invasion in February of 2022.
The fall of Syria’s government this week was sudden, and came in the face of a widespread rebel offensive that overtook the cities of Homs and Aleppo in the days immediately leading up to the fall.
It’s an end to the decade-long Syrian Civil War, which began during the regionwide “Arab Spring” phenomenon during the Obama administration and quickly became a shockingly brutal and bloody conflict as Bashar al-Assad, backed by Iranian-supported militias including Hezbollah as well as Russia, pounded rebel forces and occupied areas, pushing them away from the capital.
US officials had publicly called for Assad to step down for years, though those calls dwindled after Obama left office.
What will emerge in Assad’s place in Syria remains unclear. Militants affiliated with the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) as well as a coalition of Turkish-backed groups known as the Syrian National Army now hold claim over large parts of the country, with other smaller groups including jihadist groups all operating across Syria as well. HTS itself was once officially affiliated with Al Qaeda, the terrorist group behind the 9/11 terror attacks, though its leader now claims his ideologies have evolved.
Incumbent President Joe Biden, who is due to leave office in January, was “monitoring” the situation according to a statement released to the White House press pool Saturday evening. The White House has yet to issue a formal statement on the matter.
The HTS group is still considered a terrorist organization by the US government.
That didn’t matter across the streets of Damascus on Saturday evening into Sunday morning, however, as civilians celebrated Assad’s downfall and the end of his brutal regime in the streets, in mosques, and in their homes.
As the Assad government fell, attention is now turning to those thought to have been held captive in Syria’s infamous prisons (and elsewhere) by the regime and its allies, including US journalist Austin Tice, whose family said at a press conference in recent days (after a meeting with senior US officials) that he is believed to be alive.
JD Vance, the incoming vice president, commented on the situation with more detail on Sunday. While doing so, he took aim at Josh Rogin, a Washington Post columnist, for celebrating the downfall of Assad.
“As President Trump said, this is not our fight and we should stay out of it,” wrote Vance on Twitter. “Aside from that, opinions like the below make me nervous. The last time this guy was celebrating events in Syria we saw the mass slaughter of Christians and a refugee crisis that destabilized Europe.”
He added: “Many of "the rebels" are a literal offshoot of ISIS. One can hope they've moderated. Time will tell.”
