Turkey-Syria ties in spotlight as Assad meets Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Moscow on Wednesday, the Kremlin reported Thursday.

These are important talks because they come as Syria is considering reconciliation with Turkey. Turkey is increasingly growing closer to Iran and Russia. Iran and Russia both back the Syrian regime. Turkey, Iran, and Russia back Hamas.

Tensions in the Middle East were escalating, Putin told Assad. Russia is partly responsible for these tensions because it did not work to prevent the October 7 terrorist attack and has not condemned Hamas.

Russia's global roles

“I am very interested in your opinion on how the situation in the region as a whole is developing,” Putin told Assad, France’s Agence France-Presse reported. “Unfortunately, it is tending to escalate. We see this. This concerns Syria directly.”

Assad had recently said he considered Russia’s growing role in the world has helpful to maintaining a multipolar world order. Basically, Russia, Iran, and Syria’s regime, as well as China, want to confront the US, and they may see Hamas and other moves as important to this confrontation. Turkey also backs Hamas and has become increasingly anti-Western, even though it is a NATO member.

It is unclear whether the current meeting between Assad and Putin could lead to a multilateral meeting with Turkey, but it appears likely.

Ankara would want to take advantage of domestic political chaos in the US. Nevertheless, Turkey also would want to form closer ties with any future Trump administration if it thinks former president Donald Trump will win the US election.