On Friday, Russia began the planned reduction of its military presence in Syria while the recently declared ceasefire is being observed at large. Meanwhile, ahead of the upcoming peace talks in Kazakhstan, more and more media sources are now admitting that it is Moscow, not Washington that is “calling the shots” in the Middle East. And here is why.Russia’s planned reduction of its military presence in Syria has begun with a Northern Fleet carrier group led by the Admiral Kuznetsov heavy carrier, the chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff said on Friday.

The decision was made by Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces Vladimir Putin at the recommendation of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on December 29, right before the nationwide ceasefire in Syria took effect at midnight local time on December 30. Ministry of defence of the Russian Federation Military engineers of the Russian Army’s international counter-mine center continue the demining operation in eastern Aleppo, Syria The ceasefire deal was brokered by Moscow, Ankara and Tehran.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and Iraq, as well as the United Nations are expected to be invited to join peace efforts in the future. Meanwhile, more and more media sources have started to admit that “it is Moscow and not Washington that is calling the shots in the Middle East.” Among these news outlets is The Guardian, which examined the situation in which, “Moscow is at [the] centre of decision making while [the] US is [left] out in the cold.”

“Labelled an international pariah only months ago by Boris Johnson, and warned he would be stuck in a Syrian quagmire by a patronizing Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin ends 2016 if not as the undisputed victor, then at least as the man at the center of decision making,” diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour writes in his article for the British national daily…..more here