The Kremlin played down the damage to Russian influence in the Middle East since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a close ally of Moscow, saying his focus was on Ukraine and that Moscow maintains contact with the new rulers in Syria, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
When Russia intervened in the Syrian civil war in 2015, it helped tip the scales in Assad's favor, so his fall from power now deals a major blow to both Russia, which is waging war in Ukraine, and Iran fighting US-backed Israel in the Middle East.
"Of course, you know that we are in contact with those who are currently controlling the situation in Syria," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
Asked to what extent the fall of Assad has weakened Russia's influence in the region, Peskov said that Moscow maintains contact with all countries in the region and will continue to do so.
The Kremlin spokesman emphasized that Moscow's main priority is Ukraine. "The special military operation (a term used by Moscow for the war in Ukraine - note ed.) is an absolute priority for our country: we must guarantee the interests of our security, the interests of the Russian people, and we will do it," he said.< /p>
Moscow has supported Syria since the beginning of the Cold War, recognizing its independence in 1944, when Damascus was waging an independence struggle against French colonial rule. The West sees Syria as a Soviet satellite, notes Reuters.
Peskov also condemned Israel's strikes and the deployment of troops near the occupied Golan Heights and said he wanted "the earliest possible stabilization of the situation" in Syria, notes France Press.
"We would like the situation in the country (Syria) to be stabilized as soon as possible, one way or another,", he said.
Israel captured part of this mountain plateau in Syria in 1967. (during the Six Day War). In 1973 fended off a Syrian attack aimed at recapturing the territory during the Israeli-Arab war (known as the Yom Kippur War - note ed.), before passing a law to annex this part in 1981, France Press recalls.
It is unlikely that Israeli actions in the buffer zone of the Golan Heights will contribute to stabilizing the situation in the already destabilized Syria, Peskov said, quoted by the Russian state news agency TASS.
"I have nothing to add to what has already been said. Of course, striking, actions in the area of the Golan Heights, in the area of the buffer zone, hardly contribute to stabilizing the situation in the already destabilized Syria," he added.