MOSCOW/BEIRUT: Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Syrian leader Bashar Assad late on Monday for three hours of talks to lay the groundwork for a new push by Moscow to end Syria’s conflict now that Daesh territorial caliphate is overrun.
Russia is actively trying to broker an international consensus around a peace deal for Syria, over two years after Moscow began a military intervention that turned the tide of the conflict in Assad’s favor.
Putin made a phone call to Saudi King Salman on Tuesday during which the two leaders reviewed bilateral ties. They also discussed the latest regional developments and joint cooperation to combat extremism.
Putin said he would follow up his meeting with Assad by talking in the next 48 hours to international leaders with influence over the conflict, among them US President Donald Trump and the leaders of Iran and Turkey.
After the talks in Russia — Assad’s first publicly-declared travel outside Syria since a trip to Moscow in October 2015 — a Kremlin spokesman refused to say if Assad’s own future had come up in the discussions, saying only that was up to the Syrian people.
In a sign that international attempts may be underway to bridge the differences between rival sides in the conflict, leading Syrian opposition figures, including former Prime Minister Riyad Hijab, resigned.
Hijab headed the opposition High Negotiations Committee and insisted on Assad’s removal from power at the start of a political transition.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking in Moscow, said the resignations would make the opposition more reasonable and realistic.
On Wednesday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani — whose countries back opposing sides in the Syria conflict — will travel to Russia for a three-way meeting with Putin aimed at advancing the Syrian peace process.
Putin hosts Assad in fresh peace drive
Putin hosts Assad in fresh peace drive
Iran missile barrage sparks explosions over Tel Aviv
- Two near-simultaneous waves of explosions reverberating across the city
- Israel’s emergency services confirms plenty of damage but said there were no casualties
TEL AVIV: The latest Iranian missile barrage sparked a wave of explosions across Tel Aviv as firefighters worked to contain a blaze at a residential building near Israel’s commercial hub on Friday.
The blasts came after Israel expanded its campaign against Hezbollah, vowing retribution against the Tehran-backed militant group for joining the conflict following the killing on Saturday of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran’s state broadcaster said Tehran had fired missiles “against targets in the heart of Tel Aviv,” after Israel’s military said it was working to intercept incoming Iranian fire late Thursday.
AFP journalists in Tel Aviv heard two near-simultaneous waves of explosions reverberating across the city.
Rocket trails also lit up the sky in Netanya, a city north of Tel Aviv on Israel’s Mediterranean coast.
After the barrage, Israel’s emergency services, the Magen David Adom (MDA), said its teams had visited several reported impact sites but that there were no casualties.
Israeli police said it was “currently handling scenes involving fallen projectiles in central Israel,” adding that there was “damage” but no injuries.
A projectile hit a building on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, forcing residents to evacuate.
At another residential site near Israel’s economic hub, firefighters worked to put out a blaze caused by falling debris after an Iranian rocket fire was intercepted.
Israel’s Home Front Command issues several rocket fire warnings early Friday for communities near the Lebanon border.
