Monitoring Desk
ANKARA: Russia and Turkey have created conditions for launching the political settlement of the Syrian conflict, Russian President Putin said on Saturday.
“By working closely together our countries have succeeded in preventing the terrorist threat from spreading further across the Middle East,” Putin said in a New Year’s greeting message to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to a Kremlin statement.
“In the outgoing year Russia and Turkey not only succeeded in putting their bilateral relations back on track, but also achieved substantial progress in enhancing their bilateral cooperation in many areas.
“In addition, Vladimir Putin confirmed his interest in continued constructive dialogue and proactive engagement on all matters on the bilateral, regional and international agendas,” the statement added.
Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN officials.
Also in his New Year’s message to Syrian President Bashar Assad, Putin said, Russia will continue its assistance in “upholding its state sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, and promoting a political settlement and economic recovery.”
The Russian leader expressed hope that “the situation in Syria would continue changing for the better,” emphasizing that “defeating terrorists and rapidly bringing the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic back to normal” would benefit the “interests of the whole world and would improve security in the Middle East.”
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a New Year’s greeting to US President Donald Trump said that developing a constructive dialogue between Moscow and Washington would strengthen stability in the world, as well as helping address global threats and challenges.
Putin noted that “equality and mutual respect” should lay the foundation for “pragmatic cooperation aimed at long-term perspective” between Russia and the US.
