Putin gets Bashar al-Assad to talk reconciliation
The Russian president and his Syrian counterpart met in Moscow on Wednesday. Its aim is to improve relations between Turkey and Syria.
President Bashar al-Assad, who arrived in Moscow on Tuesday evening, was received by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov.
AFP
The efforts come as the diplomatic cards in the Middle East have been dramatically reshuffled by the Beijing-backed restoration of diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia. For the Kremlin, funding a reconciliation between Turkey and Syria, which has been pursued since 2011, would show Moscow’s diplomatic weight despite being isolated in the West since the conflict in Ukraine began.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad, who arrived in Moscow on Tuesday evening, will begin face-to-face with a meeting with their representatives after 1:00 pm (Swiss time). -face meeting.-head. He told reporters on Wednesday that the two would specifically discuss “the reconstruction of Syria after the war and a solution to the Syrian problem.”
Competing interests
Russia and Turkey have divergent interests in Syria. Moscow backs Bashar al-Assad’s regime while Ankara backs rebel groups seeking to oust him in a civil war that broke out in 2011.
Nevertheless, Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have developed a strong relationship in recent years, which explains Moscow’s role in the Turkish-Syrian reconciliation effort. Erdogan has met with Bashar al-Assad several times in recent months and said he is open to mending relations.
The gathering comes on the twelfth anniversary of the first protests against President Assad’s regime in 2011. A few thousand Syrians demonstrated in the city of Idlib on Wednesday to mark the anniversary. with Damascus.
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