Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud will pay an official visit to Damascus on Tuesday, his first since 2011. The Al Mayadeen TV channel reported this, citing the Syrian Ministry of information.
"Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan will arrive in Damascus today to meet with [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad," the report said.
Last week, Prince Faisal held talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in Jeddah, following which the two sides issued a joint statement. The visit of the senior Syrian official to Saudi Arabia, which was also the first since diplomatic relations between the countries were severed in 2011, preceded a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Persian Gulf, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq on the issue of resuming Syria's full membership in the Arab League.
The meeting, held in Jeddah under the auspices of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman, did not take a final decision on Syria's return to the League, but agreed on the need to continue consultations.
Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Damascus and joined the economic boycott of Syria in 2011. During the armed conflict, Riyadh provided financial support to opposition militias against the government. Since 2018, Saudi diplomacy has joined efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis politically.
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Based on materials from TASS