MOSCOW: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin Wednesday was hosting Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad for talks as the Kremlin is looking into ways to mend ties between Syria and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ties between Erdogan and Assad were broken after the outbreak of fighting in Syria and a successful Kremlin mediation would give Putin diplomatic clout amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
in a televised start of their meeting, Putin said to Assad that we are in constant contact and our relations are developing, and hailed noteworthy results in the fight against international terrorism.
Assad, who arrived in Moscow on Tuesday, voiced support for Moscow’s military offensive in Ukraine and said the visit would mark “a new facet” in his country’s relationship with Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had earlier told reporters that the talks would focus on bilateral ties and added that Turkey-Syria relations would be addressed in one way or another.
Syria’s civil war in 2011 strained ties between Damascus and Ankara, which has for years supported rebel groups opposed to Assad.
Turkey severed diplomatic ties with Syria soon after the conflict began.
Complex issues need resolution before Turkish, Syrian talks
According to analysts, Moscow now wants to bridge the divide between the two countries which see a common foe in Kurdish groups in northern parts of Syria, described as “terrorists” by Ankara and backed by Washington.
Erdogan has hinted that he could meet with Assad, and their defense ministers met in Moscow in last December, in the first instance of such talks since the Syrian war began.
Diplomats from Russia, Turkey, Syria, and Iran are set to meet in Moscow during the current week to pave the way for a foreign ministers’ meeting, according to Turkish media.
Complex issues need to be resolved, however, particularly regarding the presence of Turkish forces in northern Syria.
Assad’s government has been politically isolated since the war started, but, he has been receiving calls and aid from Arab leaders after a February earthquake that resulted in the deaths tens of thousands in Turkiye and Syria.
At the start of their meeting on Wednesday, Putin said the people of Syria faced another very serious problem, a catastrophe, an earthquake thus as true friends, we (Russia) is trying to support you (Syria).
Following the quake, Putin offered Russian aid to Turkiye and Syria.
Damascus is a steadfast ally of Moscow, which intervened in the Syrian civil war in 2015, launching air strikes to support the government’s struggling forces.
With the help of Russian and Iranian support, Damascus won back much of the territory it lost in the early stages of the war.
The Syrian war has killed around 500,000 people and displaced millions more since 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
Assad last visited Moscow in September 2021 when he also met Putin.
