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Russian President Putin meets Syrian counterpart Assad, discuss future of Syria

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a phone conversation last night with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to the Prime Minister Office, the conversation lasted about an hour-and-a-half, during which the two leaders discussed various regional challenges, primarily the situation in Syria and Iran’s ongoing military entrenchment across the war-torn-country. The phone conversation came after a surprise meeting between President Vladimir Putin and his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad, in the Russian resort city of Sochi. During their meeting, the Syrian President thanked his Russian counterpart for Moscow’s dedicated support, which he emphasized “saved Syria as a state.” The two leaders further discussed the future of Syria, particularly, an implementation of a political process that would grant stability to the war-torn country. President Putin said, “The most important question, of course, after we have defeated the terrorists is to find a peaceful long-term solution to the situation in Syria. I would really like to discuss, in particular with you, the main principles of setting up the political process, the organization of the Congress of Syrian peoples, supported by you. I would really like to hear your assessment of today’s situation and the prospect for future developments including your vision of the political process which as we believe, at the end of the day, will be implemented under the aegis of the United Nations. During the process itself and in the final stages we would rely on active U.N. involvement,” the Russian leader told his Syrian counterpart.

Russia is actively trying to build an international consensus around a peace deal for Syria. The declared focus for Russia’s peace efforts is a proposed Congress of Syrian Peoples, to include all the country’s ethnic groups and the warring sides in the conflict. Damascus, however, is warry of foreign intervention in its domestic affairs, urging Moscow to thwart international efforts to influence any political outcome to a final solution for Syria. President Bashar Assad said “We hope that Russia will succeed in achieving what it has been saying from the very beginning of the crisis, which is not allowing foreign intervention in any political matter in Syria, but only allowing support from afar,” the Syrian leader urged his Russian counterpart.

Following their meeting, and ahead of a trilateral meeting between President Putin and his Turkish and Iranian counterparts, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hassan Rouhani; the Russian leader held a phone conversation with President Donald Trump to update him on the latest developments pertaining to the Syria conflict. The White House released a statement saying the conversation, which lasted for an hour and a half, focused on the importance of bringing a viable solution to Syria, which would be acceptable for both Washington and Moscow.