WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2022) Russia's continuing military presence in southern Syria has provided a stabilizing presence in the region by preventing Islamist extremist organizations from recovering and reasserting their power there and beyond, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said.
"The truth is that the Russian presence in Syria has been a stabilizing influence in the south (of the country)," Safadi, who also serves as Jordan's deputy prime minister, told a meeting at the Woodrow Wilson Center on Friday.
Safadi said Jordan needed to maintain effective diplomatic relations with Russia because of its role in the region and physical proximity to Jordan, as well as for the stabilizing role it continued to play in Syria.
"We still need to re-engage with Russia," he said.
Last month, a Russian air strike hit and killed Islamist militants in the vicinity of the US-controlled Al Tanf garrison in southeastern Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The ministry accused US special forces of financing and training the terrorist group, which has hideouts in the desert along Syria's borders with Iraq and Jordan.
