Putin, Assad discuss ME escalation in Moscow

MOSCOW: Vladimir Putin met Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in Moscow to discuss what the Russian leader described as an “escalation” in the Middle East, images on television showed Thursday.

The meeting late Wednesday comes at a time when Russia, which saved Assad´s government through its military intervention in 2015 during a civil war, could mediate to defuse tensions between Syria and Turkey.

The first meeting of the two men since March last year comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan evoked the possibility of the three leaders meeting to try and normalise ties between Ankara and Damascus.

“Now we have come to such a point that as soon as Bashar al-Assad takes a step towards improving relations with Turkey, we will show him the same approach,” Erdogan said. Turkey originally aimed to topple Assad´s regime when the Syrian conflict erupted with the violent suppression of peaceful protesters in 2011 and backed rebels calling for his ouster.

But more recently, Ankara has shifted focus to preventing what Erdogan in 2019 dubbed a “terror corridor” from opening up in northern Syria. Erdogan has long said he could reconsider ties with Assad as his government is working to ensure safe and voluntary return of Syrian refugees.

Turkey has launched a string of offensives in Syria since 2016 targeting Kurdish militias, Islamic State group jihadists and forces loyal to Assad. Pro-Turkish forces in Syria now control two vast strips of territory along the border.