U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Tuesday that Syria's transitional authority may be just weeks away from collapse and a return to full-scale civil war, defending President Donald Trump’s controversial decision to lift sanctions on Damascus and re-engage with the Syrian government.
“It is our assessment that, frankly, the transitional authority, given the challenges they're facing, are maybe weeks, not many months, away from potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions—basically the country splitting up,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
His comments came as Russia’s foreign minister accused radical militant groups in Syria of engaging in ethnic cleansing and as reports emerged of a possible attack on a key Russian airbase in the country.
“Radical militant groups are carrying out real ethnic cleansing, mass killings of people based on their nationality and religion,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a Moscow reception marking the end of the Orthodox Easter period, according to a transcript released by Russia’s Foreign Ministry. He did not specify which groups he was referring to.
Russia, a longtime backer of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, maintains two military bases in Syria—Hmeimim airbase and the Tartus naval facility. Assad, a member of the Alawite minority sect, was granted asylum in Russia after being removed from power.
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Syrian and Russian sources said the Hmeimim base, located in Syria’s coastal northwest, came under attack earlier Tuesday. The area, once an Assad stronghold, has been the site of renewed sectarian violence since March, when hundreds of Alawites were reportedly killed.
A Syrian security official in Latakia said the motive for the attack on the base, which has sheltered Alawite refugees, was unclear, and that an investigation was underway.
Military Informer, a pro-Russian Telegram channel, shared what it claimed was footage of a firefight between Russian troops and Syrian fighters at the base. Reuters could not independently verify the video.
Earlier this month, Trump ordered the removal of longstanding U.S. sanctions imposed on Syria during Assad’s rule, signaling a significant shift in Washington's Middle East policy.