Linked by the war in Yemen, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are forging ahead with enhanced ties in numerous fields, solidifying their combined regional influence
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Developments over the past few weeks in Syria indicate that Russia is trying hard to distance itself from Iran
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Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Syrian counterpart Bashar Al-Assad in Sochi this week, with many believing that Russia could now be ready to change its position on Iran, writes Bassel Oudat in Damascus
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Russia and its allies are competing with the US and its allies to impose a political solution to the Syrian crisis, with there being little middle ground
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Last week’s Western air strikes on Syria only benefited the regime and its allies, being all the more ineffective because they were not part of a comprehensive strategy, writes Bassel Oudat in Damascus
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After this week’s reported chemical weapons attacks by the Syrian regime on Douma in Eastern Ghouta, there are fears the struggle will now spread to the strategic area of southern Syria, writes Bassel Oudat in Damascus
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US President Donald Trump’s announcement that the US is withdrawing its forces from Syria has spread consternation in Syria and the wider region, writes Bassel Oudat in Damascus
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Fighting in the Syrian conflict has been escalating since the beginning of the year, indicating that the international players are determined to use military options to assert their influence
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Regime flags are now flying in the northern Syrian city of Afrin, ostensibly under Kurdish militia control
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UN Security Council Resolution 2401 forcing a one-month ceasefire in Syria may not be enough to end the massacres in Eastern Ghouta
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US forces killed some 200 Russian fighters in Deir Al-Zor in eastern Syria this week in the first fatal engagement between the two countries since the end of the Cold War
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For the first time in 40 years, an Israeli jet has been shot down from Syria
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Turkey has been doing battle in the northern Syrian town of Afrin against separatist Kurdish militias for the past three weeks, so far without any great success
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The US has announced a new strategy on Syria, but observers are responding cautiously because of past experience and its lack of credibility
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The protests in Iran are being closely watched in Syria, as the fate of the regime in Damascus is bound up with that of the one in Tehran, writes Bassel Oudat in Damascus
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With the rising star of Russia in the region and the demise of the Islamic State group, nothing is certain about the fate of Syria as it enters an eighth year of civil war.
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The Syrian opposition has called for a boycott of the Russian-sponsored Sochi Conference on the crisis in the country, seeing it as a way of legitimising the Damascus regime
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