SOCHI (Sputnik) — Bahrain's king met earlier on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi to discuss a wide-range of bilateral and global issues.
"As to the Syrian crisis, His Highness highly praised the role of President Putin, the Russian government and the friendly Russian people in efforts to help Syria overcome the crisis," Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said at a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"As to the regional issues, the talks were very important, the sides agreed on many issues, our points of view coincide in key aspects, primarily regarding the need to fight terrorism, to search for peaceful solutions for existing disagreements, to prevent the collapse of countries and the ouster of legitimate governments," Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said.
"We believe that all major countries must cooperate with Russia in order to restore stability and peace in Syria," Bahrain's foreign minister stressed.
Syria has been in a state of a civil war since political protests in 2011 escalated into an armed conflict.
Moscow has been actively involved in trying to find a political solution to the Syrian war and hosted two rounds of intra-Syrian talks in 2015, bringing government and opposition forces to the negotiation table, as well as being an active participant in the Vienna process on Syrian reconciliation.
Russian has also been contributing to counter-terrorism effort in Syria by conducting precision airstrikes in the country since September, following a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad.
