FM Fidan meets Syrian, Ukrainian presidents in Damascus

DAMASCUS

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met on April 12 with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his visit to Syria.

According to Turkish diplomatic sources, Fidan held talks in Damascus with President al-Sharaa and President Zelensky.

No further details of the meetings were immediately available.

In Damascus, Fidan held his first meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Essad Hassan Sheiybani. 

The visit paves the way for the Turkish and Syrian authorities to elaborate on bilateral projects for the reconstruction of Syria following the civil war between 2011 and 2024. Fidan and Syrian officials also reviewed joint capacity-building efforts in Syria.

Zelensky-Sharaa meeting

 Zelensky met with Sharaa, shortly after arriving in Damascus alongside Fidan.

The visit follows Zelensky's trip to Türkiye on April 11 and a Gulf tour last week against the backdrop of the war in the Middle East, where he sought to clinch security deals and exchange Ukrainian drone expertise for air defence missiles.

Zelensky said in an X post that the two leaders "went over the circumstances of Russia's war against Ukraine -- I am grateful for the support. There is strong interest in exchanging military and security experience."

"We also touched on Ukraine's role as a reliable supplier of food products and discussed joint opportunities to strengthen food security across the region," he added.

Russia was a key ally of Sharaa's predecessor Bashar al-Assad, now exiled in Moscow, during Syria's 14-year civil war, supporting him with airstrikes.

But the new Syrian leader, who once commanded rebels against Assad, has appeared to maintain balanced relations with Moscow.

In January, he met President Vladimir Putin and so far has not asked Russia to withdraw from its military bases on Syrian soil.