MOSCOW — Although a shift in Russia's Mideast policy had been in the works prior to US President Donald Trump's surprise December announcement of a Syria withdrawal, the US exit will impact the changes facing Moscow in the war-torn country. 

The US-led coalition in Syria began its withdrawal Jan. 11. Pentagon spokesman Col. Sean Ryan said that "the process of our deliberate withdrawal from Syria" had begun, while noting that "specific timelines, locations or troops movements" will not be disclosed "out of concern for operational security." Although initial reports claimed that some American forces had already withdrawn from the Rmeilan military base in Hasakeh province in northeastern Syria, Defense Department officials later clarified that the withdrawal of equipment — but not troops — had begun.

A day before, on Jan. 10, Hossein Jaberi Ansari, a senior aide to the Iranian foreign minister, came to Moscow on a two-day visit for talks with Russian special envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin and Deputy Foreign Ministers Sergey Vershinin and Mikhail Bogdanov.

The situation in Syria in the post-US era dominated the discussion, but the officials also reportedly “exchanged views” on developments in Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Yemen, endorsing efforts by the UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths to resolve the crisis.