Russia, Saudi agree foreign troops should leave Syria

Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed that Syria should be freed of foreign troops and terrorist groups, Saudi Ambassador to Russia Rayed Krimly said on Thursday.

“We are in consultations and coordination sometimes with Russia regarding the ways to move this settlement process ahead in the near future.

“In the principal, our objectives are the same. We want Syria that is stable, secure and prosperous and we want Syria that is free from terrorist groups and sectarian militias and foreign troops,’’ the ambassador said.

Kremly added that both Riyadh and Moscow wanted “Syria for all Syrians on equal basis regardless of their sector ethnicity or religious affiliation.’’

On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, stressed that all foreign troops should leave Syria’s southwestern de-escalation zone as soon as possible.

According to the minister, Russia is working on the issue with the United States and Jordan.

A source familiar with preparations for the meeting told Sputnik that Russia, the United States and Jordan may hold talks on Syria’s southern de-escalation zone within a week.

On Tuesday, Israeli media reported that Israel and Russia agreed that only the Syrian government forces would be deployed on the country’s southern borders, rather than troops affiliated with Iran or the Lebanese Hezbollah movement.

However, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said he was unaware of such an arrangement.

The news followed recent escalation of the decades-long tensions between Israel and Iran, which led to the Israeli Air Force’s attack on dozens of what it called Iranian military targets in Syria earlier in May.

Israel explained its attack by saying that the Iranian forces had fired missiles on the Israeli positions in the Golan Heights.

In an interview published on Thursday, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said that despite Israel’s claims, there were no Iranian troops in Syria.

He admitted though that there were some Iranian officers who assisted as military advisers.