"We must look at the facts: There is a trend for the government to progressively lose control over an increasing part of the territory," Bogdanov, the Foreign Ministry's pointman on Syria, said during hearings at a Kremlin advisory body, the Public Chamber. "An opposition victory can't be excluded."
Does this mean that there is no Plan B of Assad retreating to a Core Syria, and that Russia is preparing to shift to trying to reach out to rebels?
Or is it a public prod of Assad by Russia to stop trying to hold more of Syria and get on with Plan B?
UPDATE: The Russians deny they are abandoning Assad:
While Bogdanov's statement seemed to signal Russia's attempt to begin positioning itself for Assad's eventual defeat, the Foreign Ministry's backtracking on that clearly indicated that Moscow has no intention yet to stop backing its ally.
And the statement surely indicates that Moscow understands that Assad is losing control of much of Syria.
The only way to reconcile Russia's support for the Assad government while knowing that Assad can't hold all of Syria is to work for a rump Syria under Assad's control, spanning no more than Assad's weakened ground forces can hold.
Of course, nobody says that it all has to be reconciled. Stuff might just be happening with no real strategy to salvage what they can. Or Russia might want Plan B but Assad doesn't think he needs Plan B.
