Russian President Vladimir Putin received Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in Moscow on Wednesday March 16, at a time when the Kremlin is stepping up its efforts to reconcile Turkey and Syria and assert its diplomatic weight despite its isolation in Ukraine.
These efforts come as the diplomatic cards have been dramatically reshuffled in the Middle East with the Beijing-sponsored restoration of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia. For the Kremlin, orchestrating a reconciliation between Turkey and Syria, scrambled since 2011, would display the diplomatic weight of Moscow despite its isolation in the West since its offensive in Ukraine.
The meeting between Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad began around 2 p.m. UT, according to images broadcast on Russian television. Several ministers took part in this meeting, which will be followed by a tete-a-tete between the two leaders. “ We are in constant contact and our relations are developing said Vladimir Putin at the start of the interview, acknowledging the important results » obtained by Moscow and Damascus in the « fight against international terrorism “. For his part, Bashar al-Assad expressed his support for Moscow’s military offensive in Ukraine and said he hoped that his visit would mark “ a new stage in Syrian-Russian relations “.
Towards a Turkish-Syrian reconciliation?
But one of the main topics on the menu of this meeting should be the reconciliation process between Ankara and Damascus, which Moscow is seeking to accelerate, in particular by organizing a summit with Bashar al-Assad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “ Relations between Turkey and Syria are definitely going to be affected in one way or another by discussions between Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
Despite their divergent interests in Syria and Turkey’s NATO membership, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan cooperated closely in recent years, which explains Moscow’s role in the attempted Turkish-Syrian reconciliation. Diplomats from Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iran are due to meet this week in Moscow to prepare a meeting between their foreign ministers, before a possible presidential summit.
At the end of December, the Turkish and Syrian Defense Ministers had already met in Moscow with their Russian counterpart, a first since 2011.
(With AFP)