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Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim brought an olive branch from Syria to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday at a meeting in Moscow, where he also bemoaned Israel's failure to observe a ceasefire in Gaza.
Sheikh Tamim, who met Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara earlier this week, told Mr Putin that the new leader in Damascus was "keen on building a relationship" with Russia. Mr Al Shara came to power after a swift rebel offensive ousted former president Bashar Al Assad, a close ally of Russia.
At Thursday's meeting, Sheikh Tamim also said Qatar was seeking to bridge gaps to secure an agreement in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. “As you know, we reached an agreement months ago, but unfortunately Israel did not abide by this agreement,” said the Qatari ruler, whose country was a key mediator of the deal.
Mr Putin acknowledged what he called Qatar's “serious efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict” and called the deaths in the conflict “a tragedy”. He said a long-term peace settlement must be “connected to the establishment of two states”.
He said Syria faced "many problems" on a political and economic level but that Russia was willing to discuss providing humanitarian assistance. "We would like to do everything to ensure that Syria, firstly, remains a sovereign, independent and territorially integral state," Mr Putin said.
Russia has two military bases in Syria that it wants to maintain under the new leadership in Damascus. During the 13-year civil war it intervened with a bombing campaign to push back rebels and ISIS militants on Mr Al Assad's behalf.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was in dialogue with all regional players in the Middle East about its ties with Syria. He said the region was "replete with conflict potential" and said Qatar had "a very big and important role in attempts to resolve many situations”.
Israel and Hamas began a ceasefire in January, brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the US, which aimed to release hostages and allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. But last month Israel resumed attacks on the enclave, seizing large areas of territory to create what it calls "security zones". The UN has warned that food stockpiled during the ceasefire will last only a few more days.
Sheikh Tamim said Qatar would "strive to bridge perspectives in order to reach an agreement that ends the suffering of the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza".
The talks in Moscow also addressed Russia's economic ties with Qatar. Sovereign wealth funds from the two countries plan to form a new investment partnership worth $2 billion, pro-Kremlin media reported. Mr Putin last met Sheikh Tamim in Astana last July on the sidelines of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation summit.
Ukraine war
Qatar has also made a series of attempts to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, and has helped to arrange the return of children from both countries who were separated from their parents during the war. Qatari Minister of State Mohammed Al Khulaifi told Russia's state news agency Tass that the discussions between the leaders would touch on Ukraine and also on energy such as liquefied natural gas.
“The Russia-Ukraine conflict has led to a global supply-chain crisis due to rising prices for energy and basic commodities,” Mr Al Khulaifi said. “Our ongoing dialogue in this area helps stabilise energy markets, which in turn supports the resilience of the global economy and helps overcome the supply chain crisis.”
Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia's wealth fund, told reporters during the meeting with Sheikh Tamim that Mr Putin's recent meeting with Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff was "extremely productive". He said a "very useful dialogue" was taking place as the US pushes for an end to more than three years of fighting in Ukraine.
Mr Witkoff is also representing the US in indirect talks with Iran on a possible deal to prevent Tehran acquiring a nuclear weapon in exchange for sanctions relief. Russia was part of a 2015 arrangement that aimed to do that, but Mr Trump abandoned the pact during his first term as president.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi separately visited Moscow to pass a letter to Mr Putin from Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei about the negotiations. Qatar's Mr Al Khulaifi noted that his country played an important role as a mediator between the US and Iran, as well as with Russia, in an attempt to find a peaceful solution to the Iran crisis. The Kremlin said it appreciated the “confidential dialogue on many topics, including the most sensitive ones” with Qatar.
