Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent trip to Tehran, during which he met Iranian leader Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, was largely ignored by western media. But news outlets in Russia, Turkey and Iran itself gave the meeting front-page prominence.
Officially, the tripartite summit took place as part of the “Astana Process,” initiated in 2017 as an alternative to faltering UN efforts aimed at bringing peace to Syria. Neither forum managed to resolve the differences between Bahsar Al-Assad and the various rebel groups fighting to overturn his regime.
The 16-point Joint Statement, published by Iran’s Foreign Ministry after this week's talks, has little to say about the situation in Syria. More attention is paid to the global food and energy crises generated by the Ukraine war.
“Tehran becomes the capital of diplomacy” according to the state-affiliated Mehr News Agency.
"We have certain differences concerning what is happening on the eastern bank of the Euphrates. But we have a shared position that American troops must leave this territory," Russian President Vladimer Putin was quoted as saying following the Astana Troika summit. "They must stop robbing the Syrian state, the Syrian people, with their illegal oil exports."
Referring to worries that Russia’s gas utility Gazprom had stopped supplying gas to its clients, the Russian president said that Gazprom "has always fulfilled its gas supplies liabilities and will continue to do so."
According to the Russian president, Western nations are seeking to shift responsibility for their own mistakes in energy policy onto Russia, and onto Gazprom in particular.
'Eliminate terrorists'
Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News opens with “Turkey, Russia, Iran to continue cooperation to eliminate terrorists in Syria,” showing Raisi between Putin and Erdogan while the three are holding hands. Putin has a broad smile, Raisi appears determined, while Erdogan looks slightly sceptical.
The paper highlights what was probably Erdogan’s most important incentive in travelling to Tehran: he needed approval for a planned action against Kurdish separatist rebels who have their bases in northern Syria, close to Turkey’s border.
"It should be understood clearly that there is no room in our region’s future for separatist terror organisations," Erdogan was quoted as saying by Hurriyet, “We will continue our fight against terrorist organisations in the time to come," he added.
Safe shipment of grain
Reporting on the summit, Russia’s Tass News Agency also focused on Syria, but mentions that a “four-party meeting regarding the safe shipment of grain” will be held in Istanbul on 22 July. The meeting is not yet officially confirmed, but Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations are scheduled to take part in it.
During their stay in Tehran, Putin and his Turkish counterpart Erdogan discussed moves to create a grain corridor, according to the agency.
Another Russian outlet,Izvestia, does pay attention to the bilateral talks, Putin-Raisi and Putin-Erdogan, which took place before the trilateral sessions started. Quoting Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, the newspaper reports that “the issue of deliveries of Iranian drones to Russia was not discussed,” although the newspaper cites “US intelligence” saying that “Russia is interested in buying 300 Shahed-191 and Shahed-129 devices.”
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