Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov ended a working visit to Damascus on Monday, where he held talks with Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and was received by President Bashar al-Assad.
The visit can certainly be called historic: Lavrov's last such trip to Damascus took place in February 2012. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov, who co-chairs the permanent Russian-Syrian Commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation, also arrived in the Syrian capital on Sunday.
Experts interviewed by TASS unanimously stated that the visit takes on a special tone against the background of the resumption of the work of the Constitutional Committee, stabilization of the situation "on the ground" and increasing pressure on the Syrian economy from the United States. Andrey Kortunov, Director General of the Russian Council for International Affairs, called Lavrov's visit an important symbolic gesture. According to him, in the conditions when military operations continue in Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry among other Russian departments traditionally plays first fiddle. "But since the Foreign Minister is going to Syria, this means that the diplomatic dimension of the Syrian settlement is now of particular importance," he said.
Boris Dolgov, a senior researcher at the Center for Arab and Islamic studies at the Institute of Oriental studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted that although the situation "on the ground" in Syria has largely stabilized, it still remains difficult. Therefore, the visit of the head of the diplomatic department will allow us to put forward some new ideas for resolving the conflict, including the issue related to Idlib, he believes.
According to Raed Jaber, a columnist for Asharq Al-Awsat, the visit could be a turning point in the development of events in Syria. According to the expert, Russia saves Syria's economy, which suffered a brutal US blockade because of the new package of sanctions that caused a sharp drop in living standards.
New stage
As Lavrov said at a joint press conference with Borisov and Muallem, during the conversation with Assad, the parties stated the establishment of relative calm "on the ground". According to the Russian Foreign Minister, the Russian-Turkish agreements on Idlib are being implemented "slowly but surely" and are bearing fruit: since the signing of the agreements, the territories controlled by Damascus in the Idlib de-escalation zone have significantly increased. At the same time, Lavrov expressed confidence that Turkey would complete the work to separate the terrorists and the opposition in Idlib and the remaining terrorists hotbeds on the Syrian territory would be completely destroyed. However, he noted that such stabilization "does not suit everyone" and a number of external players to fire up separatist sentiments in Syria and use unilateral and illegitimate measures to smother the country's economy.
Borisov also expressed same point of view. According to him, the people of Syria did not fully feel the positive changes in the country because of the sanctions under the so-called Caesar's Law against Assad, as well as because of the global crisis against the background of the coronavirus pandemic. He added that the United States and the Kurds in the North of the country do not make contacts and do not give control to the legitimate government over the fields that belong to Syria.
Under these conditions, the Deputy Prime Minister promised, Russia will try to extend the success achieved in the military and political sphere to the Syrian economy. According to Borisov, Moscow and Damascus are working on an agreement to restore 40 facilities in Syria, including in the field of energy infrastructure. In particular, a cascade of hydroelectric power stations built by Soviet specialists, and the resumption of production at offshore fields. In addition, the parties have prepared a new version of the agreement on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation, which can be signed during Borisov's next trip to Syria in December.
Elections and the Constitutional Committee
At a press conference, the Ministers touched upon the upcoming presidential elections in Syria in 2021. Muallem confirmed that the presidential elections will be held on time, and they are not related to the activities of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva, which recently resumed its work. As the head of the Syrian Foreign Ministry explained, all recommendations on amendments to the Syrian Constitution, as well as the possible text of the new basic law, which will be approved by the participants of the Constitutional Committee, will then be submitted to a national referendum. For his part, Lavrov stressed that setting a time frame for the work of the Syrian Constitutional Committee is unacceptable.
In addition to the actual bilateral issues and the Syrian settlement, the press conference touched upon the situation in another Arab country - Libya. Lavrov outlined Moscow's position on the settlement, noting that Russia supports existing peace initiatives and the establishment of a permanent ceasefire. The Minister noted that since the beginning of the Libyan crisis, Russia has been the only country that has worked with all the Libyan parties without exception. According to him, the understanding that there can be no military solution to the conflict has also come to other external forces, as well as to the opposing players.
Lavrov noted that thanks to Russia's constructive position, Moscow has established itself as a stable and comfortable platform for negotiations, whether between the Libyan, Syrian, Palestinian or Afghan sides. The Minister suggested that this is why the leaders of the "Syrian democratic council" and the so-called Moscow platform recently met in Moscow, but stressed that the Russian side did not participate in their contacts and consultations. "If our partners from different countries affected by conflicts are interested in our further hospitality, we are ready to host them," Lavrov said.
Commenting on foreign media reports at the request of journalists that Russia is allegedly using Syria as a bridgehead for airlifting armaments and mercenaries, the Russian Foreign Minister said that such statements are not supported by any facts. Lavrov drew attention to the fact that the accusations against Moscow - not only on Libya, but on other subjects-regularly get into the media space, while the sources of these accusations do not use mechanisms that would allow to remove existing concerns. All this, he stressed, raises questions about the goals of such throw-ins.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry