And last week, Mr Al Jubeir met Mr Lavrov and US secretary of state John Kerry in Doha to discuss Syria. Gen. Ali Mamlouk, the head of Syria’s powerful National Security Bureau, and Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince and defense minister.
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“We agreed to continue practical steps, which are aimed at preparing the optimal conditions for a renewal of dialogue between the [Syrian] government and all the Syrian opposition”, Sergei Lavrov said at a news conference after talks with his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir, according to the Journal.
The survey provides a worrying polling backdrop to the flurry of behind-the-scenes discussions involving Washington, Tehran, Moscow and Riyadh.
In the fifth year of war Syrians are also split on whether there should even be settlement negotiations – 42.5 percent of respondents rejected negotiations as a solution to the heavily sectarian conflict, with under-25-year-olds and Islamists especially skeptical.
One Turkish coastguard officer in the seaside resort town of Cesme said his crew had rescued 700 people in the past week, which he said was a record.
As a result, we see the appearance of a new balance of power in the Middle East, which was indicated in the talks between ministers of the U.S., Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia in Qatar.
It said they would discuss Russia’s proposal to create a “broad worldwide coalition to fight ISIL gunmen inside Syria“.
“The exit of President Assad is part of these differences”, Lavrov said. Saudi Arabia has suffered suicide bomb attacks claimed by ISIS.
Earlier this year, Moscow hosted some members of the Syrian opposition for consultations, but the National Coalition has until now refused to visit Russian Federation.
The move is part of Amman’s defensive approach to the radical Islamist group, which has seized vast swathes of territory across Iraq and Syria.
Meanwhile, a major conservative Islamist rebel group in Syria announced its support on Tuesday for a joint US-Turkish plan to establish a border zone free of the jihadist Islamic State group.
In the event of a success, the deal could become a precedent, as it would be the first delivery of Russian arms to Saudi Arabia.
The Arab kingdom, along with its regional neighbor Egypt, was reportedly looking into buying French Mistral warships, a French official said last Friday.
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Lavrov strongly warned trying to unseat Assad, which is the longtime goal of Syrian rebels along with the Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
