Russia: AlUla Summit Will Lead to Positive Regional Developments

Chairman of the Russian State Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee Leonid Slutsky said Tuesday that the annual summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), held in AlUla last week would positively reflect on the process of complex files in the region, particularly in Syria.

Slutsky said Russia is interested to enhance settlement processes in the region and recovery of Arab unity.

The summit “will directly reflect on the joint interests of regional states, and Russia itself,” he stressed.

Gulf Arab leaders signed a declaration last week in Saudi Arabia to mark a new page in relations after ending a diplomatic and economic boycott of Qatar that lasted over 40 months.

“AlUla summit brought an end to the unhealthy situation that we witnessed in the past few years. I am sure that the results of this summit would reflect in upcoming steps to renew full cooperation among regional states,” Slutsky said.

He confirmed that any positive development in the region would affect the security of the Eurasian region.

“First of all, there are talks about unity among Gulf states to combat the multiple common threats, including terrorism, extremist ideologies and the spread of mass destruction weapons, in addition to the number of crises, mainly in Syria, Yemen and Libya and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” he said.

Slutsky added: “AlUla summit removed the principle obstacle hindering the implementation of the Russian initiative, which aims to enhance security in this strategic region, and to find solutions to other crises, particularly the Syrian crisis.”

He hoped that the Arab unity would also pave the way for the Arab League to reinstate Syria’s membership.