Russia’s head of state met the Syrian president in Moscow on Wednesday, according to a video published by the Kremlin.
ADVERTISEMENTRussian President Vladimir Putin has met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Moscow to discuss issues affecting their countries, according to images released by the Russian authorities on Thursday.
The Kremlin said the meeting between Putin and al-Assad had taken place on Wednesday.
Putin told al-Assad he was concerned that tensions were rising in the Middle East, but neither leader provided further details on their talks.
Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to allow al-Assad’s government to fight armed opposition groups and reclaim control over most of the country.
While Russia now concentrates the bulk of its military resources on its ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine, it has maintained a military foothold in Syria and keeps troops at its bases there.
Both face war crimes accusations for their respective wars.
“I am very interested in your opinion on how the situation in the region as a whole is developing,” Putin said to al-Assad. “Unfortunately, there is a tendency towards escalation, we can see that. This also applies directly to Syria.”
The Kremlin said Putin and al-Assad’s meeting took place Wednesday.
Putin and al-Assad last met in March last year in the Kremlin on the anniversary of Syria’s 12-year uprising-turned-civil war. At that meeting, Putin emphasised the Russian military’s role in stabilising the country.
“Considering all the events that are taking place in the world as a whole and in the Eurasian region today, our meeting today seems very important,” al-Assad told Putin via a Russian translator.
Will al-Assad and Erdoğan meet?
The Kremlin did not provide details on Putin and al-Assad’s talks, but one potential point of discussion was Syria and Turkey restoring diplomatic relations.
Russia is one of the strongest backers of al-Assad’s government but also has close ties with Turkey and has been pushing for a return to restart relations.
Turkey and Syria cut their ties in 2011 as mass anti-government protests and a brutal crackdown by security forces in Syria spiralled into the still-ongoing civil war. Turkey-backed Syrian insurgent groups are seeking to overthrow al-Assad and still maintain forces in the opposition-held northwest, angering Damascus.
In December 2022, the Turkish, Syrian and Russian defence ministers held talks in Moscow, the first ministerial-level meeting between Turkey and Syria since 2011. Russia also brokered meetings between Syrian and Turkish officials last year.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and al-Assad recently signalled they want to restore diplomatic ties.
Last week, a Turkish newspaper reported that Erdoğan would meet with al-Assad in Moscow in August, but Turkish officials denied the report, saying it did “not reflect the truth”.
Earlier this month, Erdoğan said he had called on al-Assad to visit Turkey or to meet in a third country.
Speaking to reporters on 15 July, al-Assad said that in order for relations to return to normal, Turkey would have to withdraw its troops from northern Syria and stop backing insurgent groups that Damascus describes as “terrorists”.