Emir of Qatar to President Putin: President al-Sharaa is keen on building Syrian-Russian relations based on mutual respect

Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, told Russian President Vladimir Putin at talks in the Kremlin on Thursday that President Ahmad al-Sharaa of Syria was keen to build ties with Moscow.

“A few days ago President al-Sharaa was in Qatar, and we spoke with him about the historical and strategic relationship between Syria and Russia. He is keen on building a relationship between the two countries based on mutual respect,” the emir told Putin at their meeting, according to Reuters.

For his part, Putin said the development of the situation in Syria was of serious importance.

“We would like to do everything to ensure that Syria, firstly, remains a sovereign, independent and territorially integral state, and we would like to discuss with you the possibility of providing assistance to the Syrian people, including humanitarian assistance,” he told the emir.

“There are many problems there: political, security, and purely economic,” he added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was in dialogue with all regional players in the Middle East about its ties with Syria.