Bloomberg reported on October 14 local time that the president of the Syrian transitional government, al-Sarraj, will visit Russia and hold his first meeting with Russian President Putin. After the fall of the Assad government in Syria in December last year, the two countries are seeking to rebuild bilateral relations.
Originally, Russia planned to host the Russia-Arab Summit on October 15 local time, but due to the situation in Gaza, many Arab leaders who were originally invited to attend the summit found it difficult to travel to Moscow, and only a few leaders, including al-Sarraj, confirmed their attendance. The summit will be postponed to a date to be determined by all parties later.
Syrian official media, the Arabic Syrian News Agency (SANA), reported that al-Sarraj will depart for Russia on October 15 local time for his first official visit and will meet with Putin during his stay in Russia. The two sides will discuss how to develop bilateral cooperation, as well as the latest developments in regional and international situations.
In mid-July, Putin had met with the head of the foreign affairs department of the Syrian regime, Shibani. Shibani stated that this meeting held in Moscow marks the beginning of a new era of political and military consensus between Syria and Russia. Putin said in the meeting that Russia is committed to supporting war-torn Syria's reconstruction.
President of the Syrian Transitional Government al-Sarraj Bloomberg
Russia supported the Assad regime during the Syrian civil war that broke out in 2011. At the end of November last year, al-Sarraj's "Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham" led an offensive, quickly overthrew the Assad regime and formed a transitional government. At that time, the Russian military did not intervene. Subsequently, Assad flew to Moscow with his family and was granted asylum.
In January this year, the Syrian transitional government stated that it had contacted a Russian delegation and pressured Russia to seek compensation. In February, Putin promised to provide humanitarian aid to al-Sarraj in a call and stated that Russia was prepared to re-examine the agreements previously signed with the Assad regime.
After the fall of the Assad regime, Russia tried to retain its two important military bases in Syria, the Tartus naval base and the Hmeimim airbase. The United States and Europe hope to bring Syria into the Western camp, weakening the influence of Iran and Russia, the two main supporters of Assad.
US President Trump met with al-Sarraj in Saudi Arabia in May this year and had a brief meeting with him at the UN General Assembly in New York in September. Trump has eased economic sanctions on Syria, but the cancellation of some sanctions still requires approval from the US Congress. The European Union also lifted all remaining economic sanctions against Syria.
In his meeting with Shibani, Putin stated that Russia would help Syria restore stability and emphasized that Russia "firmly opposes" any Israeli intervention in Syria.
After the fall of the Assad regime, Israel quickly took military action in Syria, launching air strikes on multiple weapon storage sites and expanding the area under occupation in southern Syria. In addition, after violent clashes between Druze people in southern Syria and Syrian government forces, Israel also intervened forcefully, citing the need to "protect the Druze people."
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