Syrian President Assad in Moscow; Turkiye, Iran, Russia, Syria Reps Meet

March 15, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—Today is a big day in Moscow for diplomacy related to Syria. Today was the first day of two days of meetings at the level of deputy foreign ministers of Russia, Turkiye, Syria and Iran at the Russian Foreign Ministry. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Russian President Vladimir Putin after arriving in Moscow yesterday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also met with Syrian Foreign Minister Fayssal Mikdad in Moscow.

Upon receiving Assad at the Kremlin, Putin said that thanks to joint efforts by Russia and Syria significant success has been achieved in the fight against international terrorism. “We stay in touch and our relations are developing. Thanks to our joint efforts and the decisive contribution of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria, significant results have been achieved in the fight against international terrorism.” Putin stressed that the achieved results provided “an opportunity for stabilizing the socio-economic and domestic political situation.”

Putin expressed regret that the Syrian people “faced another very serious problem, a catastrophe, the effects of an earthquake.” He told Assad that “This, of course, aggravates the situation. But we, like real friends, are trying to support you.”

For his part, Assad expressed deep gratitude to Putin for the Russian Federation’s “staunch” defense of “the Syrian Arab Republic and the integrity of its lands.” It is necessary, he said, to “oppose all foreign ground forces that are there illegally.” He also expressed full support for Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine “against the neo-Nazis and their predecessors.” Assad explained that his position stemmed from “the need to stabilize the world. Otherwise it is in for some big thunder.”

At the Foreign Ministry, Sergey Lavrov told Mikdad that apart from bilateral matters, international subjects were at the top of the agenda. “We see that the situation in the region is changing, primarily in terms of the restoration of Syria’s rights in the Arab League,” he said. “We will continue to support this positive trend and other positive sentiments in the Arab world during the next ministerial meeting of the Arab League countries and Russia, which we intend to organize in the next few months.”

No news has come out of the deputy foreign ministers meeting yet, but it is aimed at setting the conditions for a Syria-Turkiye foreign ministers meeting in the near future.