MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia would like to see Turkey and Syria improve their ties when asked about a Turkish newspaper report that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would hold talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Moscow.
Turkey’s Daily Sabah newspaper cited an unnamed source familiar with the issue as saying that such a meeting could take place in August and that President Vladimir Putin would mediate the talks.
Assad, a close Russian ally, said in July he would only meet Erdogan if the two countries could focus on the core issues of Ankara’s support for what he called “terrorism” and the pullout of Turkish forces from Syrian territory.
When asked about the possibility of a forthcoming Erdogan-Assad meeting in the Russian capital, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:
“The issue of facilitating the organisation of certain contacts between Turkish and Syrian representatives at various levels is really on the agenda.
“Many countries, and of course Russia as a country that plays a significant role in the region, are interested in helping the two countries to establish relations. This is very important for the whole region.”
Peskov did not confirm that a Moscow meeting would take place however and said he was unable to offer more information on the subject for now.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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