Did Russian President Putin 'Outfox' President Obama On Syria?

Michael Crowley and Nahal Toosi, Politico: Did Putin once again outfox Obama?

The Russian leader’s announcement that he will pull forces out of Syria caught Washington off guard.

Vladimir Putin’s announcement on Monday that Russia will begin pulling out of Syria appeared to take the White House by surprise, and revived concerns that the Russian leader is outmaneuvering Barack Obama.

Just six months after he threw international relations into a tailspin by launching airstrikes in Syria, Putin on Monday declared that "the tasks put before the defense ministry have been completed over all,” adding that he had ordered that "the main part" of Russian forces in Syria would be withdrawn.

White House officials were left scrambling, with press secretary Josh Earnest punting on questions during the briefing and others trying to quickly gather information. “We have seen reports that President Putin has announced a planned withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria. We expect to learn more about this in the coming hours,” said one senior administration official on Monday afternoon.

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WNU Editor: It is still too early to claim anything from the conflict in Syria. Russia's intervention .... and now partial withdrawal .... has surprised everyone (including me), but Russia has now defined what are its red-lines in Syria, and I expect everyone will now respect it. As to the question .... did Russia outfox President Obama .... my take is that they did not. President Obama would like to see Assad gone, but he certainly does not want to see a massive U.S. footprint in this dispute .... and he certainly does not want to commit massive numbers of troops to make it happen. The U.S. focus is on the Islamic State. and to stabilize Iraq .... Syria is a just side show for America's allies (Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Gulf states, etc.) and for Russia and Iran to prop up Assad/