Jordan’s King Abdullah, in a candid debriefing to top US members of Congress on January 11, talked about a midair confrontation over the southern Syrian border between Russian fighters and Israeli and Jordanian F-16s, Middle East Eye reported Friday.
“We saw the Russians fly down, but they were met with Israeli and Jordanian F-16s, both together in Israeli and Jordanian airspace. The Russians were shocked and understood they cannot mess with us,” the king informed the US legislators.
Abdullah said he then got in touch with President Putin, who sent an envoy to Amman. Meanwhile, Abdullah met the head of Mossad in Amman, and “we discussed an idea on how to keep the Russians in their place.” The king then claimed that Jordan spoke “on behalf of Israel” to the Russians on their air missions in southern Syria.
Abdullah told the American politicians that he warned the Russians that “one bullet across the agreed border in the south, all gloves are off.” He also said, “We told Russia that we want to liquidate [al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria Jabhat al-] Nusra. Russia asked that we give them their positions to hit them, but we refused so we don’t give them a reason to hit the FSA [Free Syria Army] there.”
According to MEE, Abdullah said Putin’s decision to enter the conflict in Syria was reached in response to a plea from the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. “The Russians were shocked about how weak the Assad regime was and they felt suckered in,” the king said. “So Putin needs a way out. Putin lost a passenger plane and a fighter jet, so he has a timeline where he needs to get out.”
To remind you, the Jordanian king was speaking in early January. Sure enough, about two months later, Putin got out.