Syria-Russia ties redress region balance

The Syrian prime minister says the ties between the Arab country and Russia have redressed the balance in international political relations in the region.

Wael al-Halqi made the remarks on Thursday during a meeting with the Russian ambassador to Damascus, Azmatullah Kol Mohammadov.

Al-Halqi said the relations between Syria and Russia ”curbed the countries with colonial history that brought suffering and woes to the countries of the world, and kept their hegemonic tendencies in check.”

The Russian ambassador, for his part, expressed confidence that the Middle Eastern country will root out terrorism and establish security.

Moscow has been calling for a political solution to the unrest in Syria since the beginning of the war in the Arab country nearly three years ago.

During a Thursday telephone conversation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Damascus for its willingness to attend the Geneva 2 conference on the Syrian crisis.

Putin “positively assessed” the Syrian government’s readiness to send a delegation to participate in the planned talks in Geneva, the Kremlin said in a statement.

The conversation came after the Syrian newspaper Al-Watan said earlier on Thursday that the long-awaited talks would be held on December 12.

The Geneva 2 conference was proposed by Russia and the United States on May 7 as a chance to find a political solution to the unrest in Syria.

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies — especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey — are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.

According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in the violence.