Assad in Moscow to meet Putin as Syria's civil war enters 13th year

Russian President Vladimir Putin was expected to hold talks with Syria's leader Bashar al-Assad in Moscow on Wednesday, as Syria's civil conflict entered its 13th year and relations between Middle East states are undergoing a realignment.

"Topical issues of further development of Russian-Syrian cooperation in the political, trade, economic and humanitarian spheres, as well as prospects for a comprehensive settlement of the situation in and around Syria will be discussed," the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

Assad's office said in a statement that the Syrian president was accompanied by a "large ministerial delegation".

Prior to a deadly Feb 6 earthquake that killed 50,000 people in Turkiye and Syria, Russia had been mediating talks between the two quake-hit countries.

After the disaster, formerly hostile Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia delivered aid to Syria, along with Syria's traditional backers Russia and Iran. Washington's key allies have also begun restoring or bolstering diplomatic ties with Damascus.

Turkiye and Syria have been on opposite sides in Syria's civil war. Ankara backs armed opposition groups that control an enclave in northwestern Syria. But in December, Moscow hosted surprise talks between the Syrian and Turkish defense ministers.

The Syrian, Turkish and Russian deputy foreign ministers as well as a senior adviser to their Iranian counterpart were also set to hold talks on Wednesday and Thursday in Moscow to discuss counter-terrorism efforts in Syria.

Agencies via Xinhua