Russian, French leaders to hold summit on Syria and Libya

PARIS, France (North Press) – Russian and French leaders will hold a video summit to discuss the Syrian and Libyan crises in addition to many other issues, France announced on Wednesday.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will hold televised talks on Friday afternoon, with the coronavirus pandemic and the crises in Libya and Syria on their agenda.

The situations in Iran and Ukraine will also be discussed in addition to cooperation in the fields of health and the environment, the French presidency said.

Macron believes there is “a need to deal with all the difficult subjects,” with Russia, his office said.

France has already voiced its unease at Russia’s role in Libya and Syria.

While Russia backed the Syrian government and President Bashar Assad, France since August 2011 insisted, along with the US and Britain and some Arab states, that the  Assad must step down.

In September 2014, France joined the US-led global coalition that supported the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPJ), the leading component of Syrian Democratic forces (SDF) in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria’s northern Kurdish town of Kobani.

On Saturday, a French delegation headed by former French ambassador to Damascus Eric Chevallier visited the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli, making it the first delegation to visit the Autonomous Administration areas since the U.S. withdrawal from the region in early October.

Russia, along with the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, has backed eastern Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Haftar has reportedly enjoyed the support of the Wagner mercenary group allegedly run by an ally of Russia.

Meanwhile Turkey, together with regional ally Qatar, backs the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya’s Tripoli.

(Editing by Hisham Arafat)