MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad will touch on Damascus-Ankara relations at talks in Moscow, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
"Undoubtedly, the topic of Syria-Turkey relations will be touched upon today in one way or another," the spokesman said, responding to a question on how the Russia-Syria talks would affect the probability of Assad’s meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
According to Peskov, the heads of state will discuss bilateral relations and the settlement of the Syrian crisis. "So, first of all, they will discuss bilateral Russia-Syria relations, then cooperation on the Syrian settlement as such, with an emphasis on the absolute sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country," he pointed out.
Assad arrived in Moscow on an official visit on Tuesday, accompanied by a large delegation of ministers. He was greeted in Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport by Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, Syria’s Ambassador to Russia Bashar Jaafari and Russian Ambassador to Syria Alexander Yefimov.
The Syrian president came to Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The leaders last met in September 2021, when the Syrian president also came to Moscow.