MOSCOW: President Dmitry Medvedev will travel to Syria on Monday to tighten ties with the Soviet-era ally on the first ever visit to the country by a Russian or Soviet head of state.
Accompanied by a large business delegation, Medvedev was set to meet President Bashar Al-Assad and possibly oversee the signing of an economic agreement, a spokesman at the Russian embassy in Damascus told AFP.
"We are seeking to recover lost ground with old friends," the spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
With Russia promoting itself as a major power in the Middle East, Medvedev will follow up the two-day Syria visit with a Turkey stopover for talks with the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Syria, one of the few countries to back Russia in its war with Georgia in 2008, is Moscow‘s close ally from the Soviet-era and a major purchaser of its arms.
During the Cold War, Russia had a naval supply base in the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean but like with many other former allies, ties weakened after the 1991 disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Medvedev and Assad first met in August 2008, when the Russian leader hosted his Syrian counterpart at his Black Sea summer residence in Sochi shortly after Russia‘s war with Georgia.
Assad said at that time he hoped to strengthen relations with Russia and that Moscow could again become a bulwark against the West and help resist Israeli influence in the Middle East.
Along with the European Union, United Nations and United States, Russia is a member of the international quartet seeking peace in the Middle East and has long lobbied to host a Middle East peace conference.
Medvedev’s visit comes days after Washington renewed US sanctions on Syria for a year, accusing it and Iran of supporting "terrorist" groups.
Analysts say Moscow’s influence in the Middle East will in many ways depend on its relations with Syria, an increasingly important regional player with tight ties to Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which has its political headquarters in Damascus.
Moscow has close ties with Hamas, while Western governments refuse to deal with it, calling it a terrorist group.
Analysts say sanctions against Iran and US pressure on Syria would most certainly be a major subject of talks between Medvedev and Assad.
"Russia will seek to reduce pressure around Syria," said Alexander Shumilin, head of the Middle EastConflictsAnalysisCenter at Russia‘s US and Canada Institute.
The visit, analysts add, will be a chance for Russia to thumb its nose at the United States.
"It will be one more excuse to demonstrate that we talk to whoever we want to talk," said Alexei Malashenko, an analyst with the CarnegieMoscowCenter.
Moscow has in recent time sought to restore Cold War-era ties and win new allies and Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have made trips across continents, in particular to South America.
The Russian embassy spokesman said the energy minister Sergei Shmatko and officials from pipeline builder Stroytransgaz were set to accompany Medvedev on the visit.
The main event of the Russian-Turkish summit will be the first meeting of a new council for higher cooperation headed by Medvedev and Erdogan, the Kremlin said.
Russia is one of Turkey‘s top trading partners and its main gas supplier, accounting for about 60 percent of the country’s gas imports.
Russia wants to build a section of its key South Stream pipeline through Turkey‘s portion of the Black Sea to create a new route for Russian gas to Europe that will by-pass Ukraine.
