DOHA (Dispatches) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says his country and Bahrain share common views on the need for a political and diplomatic solution as the only possible way to settle the ongoing crisis in Syria.
Speaking at a joint press conference with his Bahraini counterpart Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani in Manama, Lavrov highlighted that the two countries maintain identical stances for the settlement of the Syrian crisis through political approaches.
“We discussed the crisis in Syria, and the need to pursue a political solution and implement UN Security Council Resolution 2254,” the top Russian diplomat noted.
Lavrov underscored that Russia and Bahrain also share a common stance on the need for the restoration of Syria’s membership in the Arab League.
The Arab League suspended Syria’s membership in November 2011, citing an alleged crackdown by Damascus on opposition protests. Syria has denounced the move as “illegal and a violation of the organization’s charter.”
Syria was one of the six founding members of the Arab League in 1945. In recent months, an increasing number of countries and political parties have called for the reversal of its suspension from the Arab League.
Back in early April, Lavrov hoped for Syria’s return to the Arab League, saying Arab nations would be able to reunify their positions and resolve their differences if Damascus is readmitted to the organization.
Over the past few years, the Arab countries that cut ties with Syria following the outbreak in early 2011 of foreign-sponsored militancy there have gradually been returning to Damascus.
Those Arab states, including the ones that heavily backed the militancy campaign against the Damascus government, were among the first to build back diplomatic ties with Syria, after the Syrian army, backed by Russia and Iran, managed to defeat the foreign-sponsored militant groups on almost all fronts.
Across the Middle East, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have reopened embassies in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
In March, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made a historic visit to the UAE, the first trip to an Arab country since the crisis began in Syria.
In May 2020, Damascus reportedly hosted a meeting between the heads of intelligence services of Syria and Saudi Arabia to discuss normalization.