Just six months after he threw international relations into a tailspin by launching airstrikes in Syria, Putin on Monday declared that “the tasks put before the defense ministry have been completed over all,” adding that he had ordered that “the main part” of Russian forces in Syria would be withdrawn.

White House officials were left scrambling, with press secretary Josh Earnest punting on questions during the briefing and others trying to quickly gather information. “We have seen reports that President Putin has announced a planned withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria. We expect to learn more about this in the coming hours,” said one senior administration official on Monday afternoon.

A speedy Russian exit from Syria would confound President Obama’s talking point that Putin had walked into a “quagmire” in that country’s civil war that he would come to regret. Obama made the case most recently in an interview with the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, in which Obama said Russia was “overextended” and “bleeding” in Syria…

There are reasons to think that Putin is not leaving on hoped-for terms. Last fall, the Russian president said Russia’s goal in Syria was to fight terrorists — a task that is far from complete, despite a fragile cease-fire holding in the country as it marks the five-year anniversary of its civil war this week. ISIS still holds large amounts of territory, for instance — a fact analysts cited as proof that Putin was never sincere about defeating ISIS, and mainly interested in the strategic benefits of shoring up his ally, Assad.