Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has received United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan in Damascus, in a further sign of improving bilateral relations and the slow reintegration of the leader after more than 11 years of war.
Al Assad stressed during the meeting that the ties between the two countries are «historic» and added that «it is normal» for them to return to normal, in the framework of a meeting in which cooperation issues and also the situation in the region were discussed, as reported by the Syrian state news agency, SANA.
He also stressed the «importance» of the UAE and its «positive role» in the region, after years of tensions over Abu Dhabi’s support for armed groups in Syria in the context of the war unleashed in 2011 by the crushing repression of a wave of pro-democracy protests in the wake of the ‘Arab Spring’.
The Emirati Foreign Ministry has indicated through its account on the social network Twitter that Al Assad and Al Nahyan «have discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations and have discussed several regional and international issues of common interest».
According to information provided by the Emirati state news agency, WAM, the UAE foreign minister also showed the country’s «commitment» to support efforts to achieve a political solution to the war to restore security, stability and unity in Syria and to meet the aspirations of the people.
Al Nahyan’s visit came months after Al Assad traveled to Abu Dhabi in March 2022 to discuss security in the region and how to strengthen cooperation between the two countries, in what was his first official visit to the country since 2011.
Previously, the Emirati foreign minister himself had in November 2021 become the first Emirati official to travel to Syria since the outbreak of the war. The UAE reopened its embassy in Damascus in 2018 after its closure in 2011.
The U.S. government on Tuesday showed its opposition to the restoration of relations with Damascus, days after a meeting between the defense ministers of Syria, Russia and Turkey to address the security situation.
The meeting, the first of its kind since the Syrian war broke out in 2011, took place in Moscow to address the Syrian crisis, in a sign of a possible rapprochement between Ankara and Damascus, whose bilateral relations have been strained by the conflict and Turkey’s support for various rebel groups.
«We do not support countries upgrading relations or expressing support for rehabilitating the brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad,» said U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price, who insisted that Washington «has made it very clear» to all all allies and partners that «now is not the time to normalize or upgrade relations.»
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
