Russian and Syrian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad discussed cooperation in the military-technical sphere (MTC) and the normalization of relations between Damascus and Ankara at talks in Moscow, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
"As for our cooperation in sensitive areas such as military-technical cooperation, of course, this was also discussed. Not all the results of the negotiations can be made public for obvious reasons," Peskov said.
According to the Kremlin spokesman, the normalization of relations between Syria and Turkey was also touched upon at the talks.
In addition, Peskov said that as a result of the talks, a decision that allows the signing of "a very important document on the further development of trade and economic cooperation" between Russia and Syria in the coming weeks or months was taken.
The Russian president's spokesman described the talks as substantive and noted that they were preceded by contacts through the foreign and defense ministries. "During yesterday's talks, the heads of state heard reports from ministers on directions," Peskov added. - "These are the heads of the intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation, which is headed from our side by [Russian Construction and Housing Minister Irek] Faizullin. And the minister of finance [of Russia, Anton Siluanov] spoke."
Peskov also said that several working-level contacts are being made to prepare for a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and al-Assad. "Such a meeting must be preceded by a number of contacts at the working level, which are now underway. This work will continue," the Kremlin spokesman said when asked about the possibility of such a meeting.
The talks between Putin and al-Assad ended around 8 p.m. on Wednesday. Peskov earlier told TASS that the conversation lasted a total of three hours.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS