Russian leader Putin meets Syrian president Assad in Moscow

MOSCOW

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in Moscow, the Kremlin announced on Thursday.

In the talks, the first since March 2023, Putin highlighted his concerns over the situation in the Middle East, which he said was "tending to escalate," in opening remarks between the pair which were aired on state television on Thursday.

Moscow is Syria's most important ally, having effectively saved Assad's government through its military intervention in 2015 during a civil war.

"I am very interested in your opinion on how the situation in the region as a whole is developing. Unfortunately, it is tending to escalate, we see this. This concerns Syria directly," Putin said.

Assad said his visit to Moscow was a "very important" opportunity to discuss "events that are taking place today in the world as a whole and in the Eurasian region,” according to a translation into Russian.

"The situation in the region was discussed in a broad context," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media.

The meeting came amid after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan evoked the possibility of the leaders meeting to try and normalize ties between Ankara and Damascus.

The neighbors have been at odds since the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011 plunged Syria into a protracted and devastating conflict. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has recently shown a willingness to mend ties with Türkiye. In response, Erdoğan said he might invite Assad to Türkiye "at any moment," signaling a possible reconciliation.

On July 23, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Moscow is keen to see the restoration of relations between Syria and Türkiye.

This remark came after Turkish diplomatic sources refuted reports in the Turkish media about Moscow being the location of the meeting between Erdoğan and Assad.

Speaking to reporters on July 15, Assad said that in order for relations to return to normal Türkiye would have to withdraw its troops from northern Syria.