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Lebanon’s Aoun to Discuss Syrian Refugees, Energy in Moscow

Aoun met Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin on Tuesday (NNA)
Aoun met Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin on Tuesday (NNA)
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Lebanon’s Aoun to Discuss Syrian Refugees, Energy in Moscow

Aoun met Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin on Tuesday (NNA)
Aoun met Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin on Tuesday (NNA)

Lebanese President Michel Aoun’s official visit to Moscow on March 25 is set to focus on the burden of Syrian refugees and energy cooperation, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday.

The sources said Aoun, who is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his trip, met on Tuesday with Moscow's Ambassador to Beirut Alexander Zasypkin.

The Lebanese president hopes to find a permanent solution to Syrian refugees through their return home under a potential agreement with Putin on a mechanism that would set a timetable with a specific funding.

Aoun’s discussions in Moscow would also tackle cooperation on energy, the sources said.

A Russian company has been tasked with gas exploration off Lebanon, as part of an unprecedented deal between Moscow and Beirut.

Aoun is set to ask for Putin’s support in protecting Lebanon’s exploration rights in Block 9, which has potential oil and gas reserves, and to stop Israel from benefiting from the undersea reserves in the contentious block.

Zasypkin visited Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil on Monday.

Foreign Ministry sources said Bassil informed the diplomat that Beirut is keen on the Russian initiative to help repatriate Syrian refugees under a set timetable and the means to transport them.

The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Syrian regime would be bound to accept the result of the Putin-Aoun talks.

The Lebanese President is scheduled to arrive in Moscow on March 25 but would meet his Russian counterpart the next day.

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Pedersen Says ‘Extremely Critical’ to Avoid Syria Being Dragged into War in Region

UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen meets with Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh in Damascus on Sunday. (Syrian Foreign Ministry)
UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen meets with Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh in Damascus on Sunday. (Syrian Foreign Ministry)
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Pedersen Says ‘Extremely Critical’ to Avoid Syria Being Dragged into War in Region

UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen meets with Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh in Damascus on Sunday. (Syrian Foreign Ministry)
UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen meets with Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh in Damascus on Sunday. (Syrian Foreign Ministry)

The UN special envoy for Syria said on Sunday that it was “extremely critical” to end the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza to avoid the country being pulled into a regional war.

“We need now to make sure that we have immediately a ceasefire in Gaza, that we have a ceasefire in Lebanon, and that we avoid Syria being dragged even further into the conflict,” said Geir Pedersen ahead of a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh in Damascus.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry has not released any details about the Pedersen-Sabbagh meeting. It only issued a brief statement in which it announced the meeting.

Local sources said Pedersen's second visit to Damascus this year is aimed at exploring the possibility of resuming the Constitutional Committee meetings aimed at resolving the Syrian crisis.

The meetings have been stalled since the eighth round on February 22, 2022, due to a dispute over the venue of the reconvening of the Constitutional Committee. Russia, which is not satisfied with Switzerland's joining Western sanctions against Moscow because of the Ukraine war, refuses to hold it in Geneva.

“Pedersen is holding talks with Syrian officials in Damascus, where he arrived last Wednesday, about the possibility of resuming the Constitutional Committee meetings,” reported Syria’s Al-Watan newspaper.

Earlier this month, Russian presidential envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev told TASS: “As you know, only one venue - Geneva - is still unacceptable for the Russian side. As for all others, we are ready to work there.”

He added: “Probably, there is an open option with Baghdad, which, regrettably, was rejected by the Syrian opposition. It refused from this venue because Baghdad is supporting Damascus. They don’t think that Iraq is a neutral venue.”

The Russian diplomat stressed that the committee’s work should be resumed as soon as possible, but, in his words, it takes a lot of effort to find a venue that would be acceptable for both Damascus and the Syrian opposition.

Israel has been conducting airstrikes in Syria against government forces, Iranian troops and Hezbollah targets since the eruption of the crisis there in 2011. Strikes have increased following the Israeli war on Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.

On Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll of the Israeli airstrikes on Palmyra city on November 20 continues to increase with many people suffering from severe injuries.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented the death of three Syrians and two non-Syrian members of Iranian-backed militias, bringing the number of fatalities to 105.