Putin welcomes Assad to Russia as Middle East tensions rise

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Kremlin, according to a video released by the Kremlin press service on Thursday.

Putin told Assad he was concerned about rising tensions in the Middle East, though neither leader gave further details about their talks. Russia has been waging a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, joining Iran in helping Assad’s government fight opposition groups and regain control of most of the country. While Russia now concentrates most of its military assets in Ukraine, it has maintained a presence in Syria and has troops at bases there.

“I am very interested in your opinion on how the situation in the region as a whole is developing,” Putin told Assad. “Unfortunately, there is a tendency towards escalation, we can see that. This also applies directly to Syria.”

The Kremlin said the meeting had taken place on Wednesday.

Putin and Assad last met in March 2023 in the Kremlin, on the 12th anniversary of the Syrian uprising turned civil war. On that occasion, Putin stressed the role of the Russian military in stabilising the country.

“Considering all the developments taking place now in the world as a whole and in the Eurasian region, our meeting today seems very important,” Assad told Putin through a Russian translator.

The Kremlin gave no details of the talks between the leaders, although a key topic was the restoration of diplomatic ties between Syria and Turkey.

Russia is one of the biggest supporters of the Assad government, but it also has close ties to Turkey and has pushed for a resumption of relations.

Turkey and Syria cut ties in 2011 when massive anti-government protests and a brutal crackdown by security forces in Syria led to the ongoing civil war. Turkey supported insurgent groups trying to overthrow Assad and still maintains forces in the opposition-held northwest, to the outrage of Damascus.

In December 2022, defense ministers of Turkey, Syria and Russia held meetings in Moscow, the first ministerial-level meeting between Turkey and Syria since 2011. Russia also mediated meetings between Syria and Turkey since 2011. Russia also mediated talks between Syrian and Turkish authorities last year.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Assad have recently indicated they are interested in restoring diplomatic ties.

A Turkish newspaper reported last week that Erdogan would meet Assad in Moscow in August, but Turkish officials denied this, saying it “does not reflect the truth.”

Erdogan said this month that he had asked Assad to visit Turkey or for the two to meet in a third country.

Speaking to reporters on July 15, Assad said that in order to return to normalcy, Turkey would have to withdraw its troops from northern Syria and stop supporting insurgent groups that Damascus describes as “terrorists.”