Putin is drowning in Syria. Putin currently has no Syrian exit strategy, none at all. At $50 a barrel, Putin’s cash-flow approaches zero, and his sanctioned economy is dead in the water. Even though Putin’s sure to win his 2018 rigged-election, he still wants out of Syria before he has to campaign in earnest.
In addition, 80% of the world’s Muslims are Sunni and Putin is siding with Shiite Iran and Shiite/Alawite Assad to commit genocide on Sunnis. That is definitely not good. Close to 100% of the Muslims living in and near Russia are Sunni.
Putin needs a Syrian exit strategy, and needs one fast. With Assad’s Idlib Sarin nerve gas massacre, the opportunity exists for Putin to make a deal with President Trump to abandon Iran and Assad, but keep his naval base at Tartus.
The deal is simple. More importantly, as a preface and taking a step back, NATO, Russia and the United States actually have a common enemy: Radical Islamic Terror. They are all on the same team.
The broad outline of the deal is this: Russia abandons Assad and Iran in Syria in return for keeping Tartus and pocketing the ethnically Russian-speaking areas of Eastern Ukraine and Crimea, but Russia allows Western Ukraine to join NATO. As an immediate pre-deal, the Minsk Agreement is implemented, and there is a pull-back from the Minsk Line by both parties.
As an additional element, the West has to initiate a complete review of the entire Kosovo/Serbia problem. For in many ways, former-President Clinton began this entire pro-Muslim empowerment and armament. The global pro-Muslim empowerment has to stop.
With Russia and the United States working together, they can evict Iranian militias including Hezbollah and insert a moderate Muslim Syrian government that will satisfy all the neighboring Sunni Muslim countries. With Putin and Trump working together on Syria, both will get a Nobel Prize. Russia’s involvement with Assad’s and Iran’s genocide wil be forgotten.
Putin and the United States have an opportunity to close a grand deal, greatly benefitting both. And if Putin and Trump make a deal, the entire world will be a much safer place - without the genocidal hegemonic Assad and his Iranian masters.