The British website Middle East Eye mentioned on Thursday, July 11, that Russian President Vladimir Putin opposes the idea of Iraq hosting a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad.

The website quoted sources described as “informed” that Putin prefers such a meeting to be held in Turkey, not in Iraq.

The same sources also indicated that despite the orientation to conduct Turkish talks with the regime in Baghdad under the auspices of the Iraqi government, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia’ al-Sudani aims to host the first personal meeting between Erdogan and al-Assad in more than a decade.

According to what a former Turkish official told the British site, al-Sudani believes he might use this meeting to boost his status before the Iraqi parliamentary elections scheduled for next year.

Putin does not support this idea and prefers holding the meeting in Turkey, prompting Erdoğan to publicly speak about extending an invitation to al-Assad for a meeting in Turkey under Russian sponsorship.

Baghdad has managed to make progress in its mediation efforts, convincing the Syrian regime to abandon its preconditions and demand only Turkey’s final withdrawal from Syria. Additionally, the Iranians do not want to be marginalized while the Iraqi efforts progress, as reported by the website from its sources.

Talks have risen about Baghdad hosting upcoming unspecified date discussions between Ankara and Damascus after the Iraqi Prime Minister revealed at the end of last May about an Iraqi role in achieving “reconciliation” and ongoing discussions on the matter with the Turkish President and the Syrian regime leader.

By the end of last June, the pace of official Turkish statements had increased with a more open language towards the Syrian regime. Erdoğan hinted more than once about the possibility of inviting al-Assad to visit Turkey.

The Turkish statements, preceded by al-Assad’s openness to all initiatives related to relations between Damascus and Ankara, and based on what he described as Syria’s sovereignty over its territory and combating all “forms of terrorism and its organizations,” were met with official disregard from the Syrian regime, without changing the tone towards Ankara or the stance on the presence of Turkish forces in northern Syria.