IRIA News

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad in Moscow on March 15, 2023. The meeting between the two comes at a time when Moscow is pushing efforts to broker a deal between Turkey and Syria.

Following China’s success in reestablishing diplomatic ties between long-standing regional rivals, Saudi Arabia and Iran, the Russian leadership is trying to attain the same results for its efforts to mend relations between Ankara and Damascus.

According to Russia’s state-owned media outlets, the Syrian president started the meeting by reaffirming its support for Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. “I want to take advantage of the moment, as this is my first visit since the special operation in Ukraine, and reiterate the Syrian position in support of the special operation against the old and new Nazis,” Assad said in his opening remarks.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters before the meeting that the talks would focus on bilateral ties between Russia and Syria but said that “Turkey-Syria relations will certainly be touched upon in one way or another.”

Peskov also said that the Russian leader Vladimir Putin expressed his grief and regret over the Syrian people who are facing a difficult situation due to the aftereffects of the recent earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria killing thousand and affecting millions in the two countries.

Russia has been closely cooperating with Turkey in northern Syria in the past and in recent months has pushed for reconciliation between Ankara and Damascus. Since the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011, relations between Damascus and Ankara have deteriorated and the two countries have severed their diplomatic relations.

Moscow has been trying to bridge the relations between the two countries on the grounds that both Turkey and Syria see Washington-backed Kurdish rebel groups as a common enemy in the region.

In December 2022, Moscow hosted a trilateral meeting between defense chiefs of Russia, Syria, and Turkiye met in Moscow to discuss the issues related to the decade-long Syrian war. Turkey’s backing has played a vital role in sustaining Syrian rebels in their last major territorial foothold in the northwest after President al-Assad’s forces defeated the fighters across the rest of the country.

Russia has promised to establish a buffer zone between the Turkish border and Syria’s People’s Defense Unit or YPG forces. The buffer zone would be controlled by the Syrian army and Russian military police. Although both Russian and Syrian government forces are present in the border region, they have failed to implement the agreement.