Russia supports Saudi efforts to meet Syria opposition

King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia and Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev attend a meeting in Moscow, Russia on 6 October 2017 [Bandar Algaloud /Saudi Royal Council / Handout/Anadolu Agency]

The Russian foreign ministry announced yesterday that Moscow supports Saudi Arabia’s efforts to form a unified delegation from the Syrian opposition to participate in the Geneva talks, the Russian TASS news agency reported.

“During a telephone conversation, Russian president’s special envoy for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and the Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir discussed the situation in Yemen and Lebanon,” the ministry said in a statement.

“The Saudi minister exchanged assessments and ideas on the situation in Yemen and Lebanon, as well as the Saudi leadership’s efforts to fight corruption,” the statement added.

The statement said the Russian official has expressed “support for Saudi efforts to hold an expanded meeting in Riyadh for the Syrian opposition in order to form a unified delegation to participate in the Geneva talks”.

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