When Did Russia Make The Decision To Withdraw Its Forces From Syria?

A Russian military jet takes off from the country's air base in Hmeymin, Syria to head back to Russia, part of a partial withdrawal ordered by President Vladimir Putin, in this still image taken from video March 15, 2016. REUTERS/Russian Ministry of Defence via REUTERS TV

Defense News: Jordan Says It Knew of Russian Drawdown Plan in Syria

DUBAI — Despite Gulf Cooperation Council states remaining silent about Russia's unexpected drawdown from Syria, their staunch ally Jordan has stated that their government has known about President Putin's plans.

A Jordanian official said that his government was informed of the Russian withdrawal plans in January.

“The Russian pullout was set up in January during a meeting in Moscow between the Jordanian chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lt. Gen. Mishal Al Zaben and his Syrian counterpart Gen. Fahd Jassem Al Freij, with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to discuss security and military issues on the Syrian-Jordanian borders and the repercussions of this on the [ongoing] Syrian peace talks," the official said on the condition of anonymity.

"The decision was discussed to check the sincerity of parties involved in the Syrian issue,” he said without further elaborating the statement.

The Jordanian official added that Syrian director of the National Security Bureau has been having meetings with Amman over the past months.

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WNU Editor: If true .... and I suspect that it is .... everyone was in the loop on what Russia was going to do in January.