Syrian Negotiation Commission weighs in on future relations with Russia

The Arab state should aim for a good relationship with Moscow based on mutual respect and interests, the commission’s president, Anas Al-Abdah, has told RT

The Syrian Arab Republic should maintain a good relationship with Russia based on mutual respect and interests, Anas Al-Abdah, the president of the Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC), told RT International on Monday.

The SNC was founded in 2015 under the mandate of the UN to supervise negotiations between Damascus and the opposition. The commission is made up of Syrian opposition forces.

On Sunday, various opposition groups, including Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham jihadists and US-backed Free Syrian Army fighters, seized control of Damascus following a swift advance across the country. The Syrian Army retreated and former President Bashar Assad and his family have been granted asylum in Russia.

Asked by RT about the future of Syria-Russia relations, Al-Abdah said: “We should aim for good relations with Russia based on the mutual interest of Russian people and Syrian people, the Russian state and the Syrian state.” 

That means that the two countries’ mutual future “should be paramount in determining the relations that will happen in the future,” according to the politician, who served as president of the Syrian Interim Government from 2019 to 2021.

“I believe this is very important,” Al-Abdah said, adding that “Syria needs all the help in this world.” 

He further pointed out that more than half of the country’s population is currently displaced or are refugees, 80% of the western city of Homs is destroyed, and much of the country’s infrastructure ruined.

“We are in the business of maximizing the number of our friends and minimizing the number of our enemies,” Al-Abdah stated, emphasizing that “Russia is a very important player in this world regionally and internationally.” 

Read more

There are many avenues for the two nations to “explore” in order to maintain a good relationship and even improve it, the SNC head concluded.

The militant groups that overthrew Assad’s government in Syria have pledged to respect Russia’s military installations and diplomatic missions in the country, a Kremlin source told TASS on Sunday.

Russian military forces are present in Syria at Khmeimim Air base and a logistics support center in Tartus, located in the western part of the country along the Mediterranean coast. In 2017, Moscow and Damascus agreed to station Russian troops at these bases for a period of 49 years.

Commenting on the recent developments in Syria, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday they came as a surprise to the world, including Russia. Peskov noted that it will take time before Moscow can engage in “serious conversations with those who hold power.”