Russia, Jordan discuss Syria after US pullout decision

Russia held talks with Jordan on Friday in a diplomatic effort to try and stabilize the situation in war-torn Syria after the US announced its troop withdrawal from the country.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met his Jordanian counterpart Ayman al-Safadi to instigate a process of so-called bridge building between Syria and other countries in the Middle East.

"Today we agreed to discuss in detail the circumstances in the Middle East region with an emphasis on stabilizing the Syrian situation and we very much appreciate Jordan's role in this," Lavrov was quoted as saying by TASS news agency.

He said it was important to try and restore trust in the troubled region and it was in this sphere of action that Russian-Jordanian cooperation was important.

"We hope that today's meeting will be a major contribution to this cooperation," Lavrov said.

"We also believe it is right to contribute to the emerging trend of restoring relations between the Syrian Arab Republic and other Arab countries," he added.

The United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus on Thursday after having shut it down following the outbreak of military hostilities in the country.

Syria has been ravaged by war since 2011, with many opposition groups and terrorist organizations attacking the Syrian Arab Army in an attempt to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

--IANS

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