Russian Foreign Minister says Saudi Arabia reiterated commitment to solving Syria’s crisis

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks on Friday, April 7, during a news conference

Saudi Arabia has assured its commitment to solving the crisis in war-torn Syria by backing a gradual process of negotiating local ceasefires and setting up “de-escalation zones”, Russia’s foreign minister said.

Sergey Lavrov made the comments at a joint news conference with the Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Amman on Monday, a day after meeting with Saudi leaders in Jeddah.

“Yes, I think Saudi Arabia is determined to solve the Syria crisis,” Lavrov told reporters.

An agreement by Russia, Turkey and Iran to set up so-called de-escalation zones in Syria was signed in May during talks in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana. But the plan was sharply criticised by the Syrian opposition, which rejected Iran’s role as guarantor in any deal.

Russia and Iran – Saudi Arabia’s main regional foe – back Syria’s government while Saudi Arabia supports Syrian rebels.

Lavrov said on Monday that Saudi Arabia had assured him it supports the agreement and “will cooperate in terms of creating de-escalation areas and other initiatives under the Astana process”.

A new round of talks aimed at ending Syria’s six-year conflict is set to get under way later this week in Astana.

UN-sponsored peace talks ended with “no breakthrough, no breakdown” in Geneva in July.

Local ceasefires have proven to be the most successful approach to mitigating multi-sided fighting in Syria, which has killed some 400,000 people and displaced half the country’s population since 2011, Lavrov said.

The Russian diplomat defended his country’s military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying Russia – along with Iran and the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah – are there “based on a direct invitation from the legitimate Syrian authorities.”

The views expressed in Op-Ed pieces are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of Libyan Express.
How to submit an Op-Ed: Libyan Express accepts opinion articles on a wide range of topics. Submissions may be sent to oped@libyanexpress.com. Please include ‘Op-Ed’ in the subject line.
You might also like

Submit a Correction

For: Russian Foreign Minister says Saudi Arabia reiterated commitment to solving Syria’s crisis

Your suggestion have been successfully submitted

There was an error while trying to send your request. Please try again.

Libyan Express will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch with you and to provide updates and marketing.