On December 8th, according to the Times of Israel, US President-elect Trump said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "fled his country" after losing Russia's support. "Assad left," he said on his Truth Social platform. "His protector, Russia led by Putin, Russia, Russia, has no interest in protecting him anymore." He also said: "Russia had no reason to go there in the first place. They lost all interest in Syria because of a war in Ukraine that should never have started and could go on forever, in which nearly 600,000 Russian soldiers were wounded or killed. Russia and Iran are now in a weak position, one because of Ukraine and its bad economy, the other because of Israel's success in fighting it. Likewise, Zelensky and Ukraine want a deal to stop this madness. They have lost 400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians. There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. "