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During the delegation’s meeting with Assad, the latter affirmed “the determination of the Syrian government to continue working with Russian allies, in order to implement the agreements signed between the two countries, including the success of Russian investments in Syria.” According to the Syrian presidency, efforts were discussed “to reach new agreements, in a way that contributes to achieving the interests of the two countries and mitigating the effects of the coercive sanctions policy pursued by some countries.” The presidency added that “there was agreement on the importance of beginning to implement the mechanisms to circumvent the economic blockade and the pressure on the Syrian people.”
Following the discussions that took place outside the media, a joint press conference was held that included Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem, and both Lavrov and Borissov. During the conference, Al-Muallem said: “I can confirm that the future of relations with friends in Russia is promising and promising regarding the economic and political situation.” In response to a question, he added: “I am optimistic, and I bring good news to our people that the general economic situation will find an improvement in the coming days and months.” For his part, Borisov said that “Russia is helping Syria to repair power plants,” adding that “oil production cannot be resumed because the fields are located in areas outside the control of the Syrian government.” Borisov recalled that “last July Moscow proposed an agreement to expand economic relations”, adding that “Damascus is studying it.” The Russian deputy prime minister expected the deal to be concluded next December during his next visit to the Syrian capital. He also spoke about reconstruction projects for 40 private infrastructure facilities in the energy field, and a work contract with a Russian company to extract oil from Syrian waters that is still pending approval.
Lavrov spoke of new “priorities” in Syria, the main of which was “reconstruction.”
In turn, Lavrov spoke about new “priorities” in Syria, among which “reconstruction and obtaining international support to achieve it.” Regarding the Constitutional Committee, which the United Nations suspended its work last month after it was found that its participants were infected with the Corona virus, Lavrov said that “there is no timetable to finish its work,” while Al-Muallem noted that , “Regarding the next constitution, this is what committee members come to. Constitutionalism (…) if they want to amend the existing constitution or produce a new constitution. In either case, the product will be put to a referendum.
In recent years, Moscow has signed bilateral agreements with Damascus and long-term contracts in many fields, especially energy, construction, oil and agriculture. In the summer of 2019, the Syrian People’s Assembly approved a contract with a Russian company to manage and invest the port of Tartus, the largest in the country. The same company had previously won a contract to invest in and extract phosphates from mines in the Palmyra region (east) for fifty years. The Russian delegation’s visit comes at a time when Syria is witnessing a suffocating economic crisis exacerbated by economic sanctions, the most recent of which was imposed by Washington under the Caesar Law since June and is considered the most severe. against Syria.
Preset questions!
It was noted that during the visit, stakeholders interacted with the media. Most journalists were prevented from filming the meeting and conversations, while only official media and some foreign media were allowed to enter. In addition, pre-prepared questions were distributed to journalists to ask at the press conference, while not everyone was able to ask their questions, on the pretext that “time is not helpful.” Furthermore, most of the pre-prepared questions focused on the Russian-Turkish relationship and the justification for the Russian position on the relationship with Turkey and Israel.
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