Says Russia Left President Assad, Trump: There's No Reason To Be In Syria Since The Beginning

Donald Trump. (Wikimedia Commons/The White House)

JAKARTA - United States President-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday Russia's neglect of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad caused his fall, saying Moscow should not protect him from the start and then lose interest in the war in Ukraine that should never have started.

"Assad is gone. He has left his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, led by (President) Vladimir Putin, is not interested in protecting him anymore," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

"There is no reason for Russia to be there from the start," Trump wrote.

"They have lost interest in Syria because Ukraine, a war that should never start, and could last forever."

Trump, who will take office on January 20, added Russia and Iran, another major supporter of Assad, "is in a weak state at the moment, one because Ukraine and the economy are poor, the other because of Israel and its success in fighting".

As previously reported, President Bashar al-Assad has left office and left Syria, after giving orders for a peaceful transfer of power, Russian authorities said on Sunday, but did not say where he is now or whether the Russian military plans to remain in Syria.

Syrian rebels said they had ousted President Assad's government after seizing control of Damascus on Sunday, ending his family's autocratic rule for decades after more than 13 years of civil war.

Assad flew from Damascus to an unknown destination on Sunday, two senior military officers told Reuters his whereabouts were currently unknown.

"As a result of negotiations between B. Assad and a number of participants in armed conflict in the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic, he decided to resign from the presidency and leave the country, giving instructions for peaceful transfer of power," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"Russia does not participate in these negotiations," the ministry said.