Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted on Thursday that the war in Syria has revealed the Russian military capacities, uncovering the development and testing of new state-of-the-art nuclear arms and hypersonic weapons, like reported by aawsat.com.
His comments coincided with a request by the Iraqi parliament that the cabinet set a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country, a step believed to have been encouraged by Tehran.
In a traditional address to members of both houses of the parliament at a historical hall near the Kremlin, Putin recalled the rhetoric of the “Cold War.”
He said Moscow has developed new arms, including underwater drones, intercontinental missiles and a hypersonic system with also great results in creating laser weapons.
“First laser systems have been supplied to the Armed Forces since last year,” he said.
Putin warned that any use of nuclear arms against Russia or its allies would meet an “immediate response”.
“Nobody listened to us. Listen now,” the Russian president said, to a loud ovation from the crowd of legislators, officials and dignitaries.
Later, Assistant to Russia’s Security Council Secretary Alexander Venediktov said that “the return of peace and stability to Syria is hampered by continued external interference in the Syrian crisis.”
He added that in the territory controlled by the people’s self-defense units of Kurdistan, some 20 US military bases have been created.
Meanwhile, Iraq’s parliament demanded that the government set a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops stationed in the country to help ISIS insurgents, a ruling coalition lawmaker said.
Lawmaker Husham al-Suhail told Reuters: “Parliament voted for a decision to thank friendly nations for their support in defeating ISIS and at the same time to demand the government set a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops.”
Political analyst Ahmed Younis told the news agency that the “the timing of the vote, right before the election, is a message from pro-Iran parties that they do not want American troops in Iraq forever.”
As a response, a spokesperson for the US-led Coalition, US Army Colonel Ryan Dillon, said: “Our continued presence in Iraq will be conditions-based, proportional to need, in coordination with and by the approval of the Iraqi government.”
For its part, Iran’s IRNA news agency quoted Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as praising head of the Syrian regime Bashar Assad during a meeting with a Syrian official on Thursday.
The visit came amid talks about expected European-Iranian talks in Rome soon to discuss Iran’s regional role.
