A delegation of the Federal Council of the Russian Federation, which was received in Riyadh by King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, held talks with him about the situation in Syria; the parties remained on opposite sides regarding the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

This was stated by Deputy Chairman of the Chamber Ilyas Umakhanov, who was a member of the Russian delegation, reported Interfax news agency.

According to Umakhanov, the King and the Russian delegation, which was headed by Chairman of the Chamber Valentina Matviyenko, "disagreed" on this issue.

"This issue [the fate of Assad] was discussed. It was definitely that point on which there were differences in the assessments of Matviyenko and the King of Saudi Arabia," he said.

"However, the conversation was constructive; in a benevolent vein, the intention to continue this kind of consultations, to set the clock and look for a way out of the situation in order to bring the positions together, was confirmed," Umakhanov noted.

Saudi Arabia, like most Arab and other countries in the region and most of the West, claims that Assad and his closest associates cannot have any role in the new Syrian government that must be created in the peace process. Russia, which supports the authoritarian power of Assad, rejects this condition.

Earlier, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson invited Russia to join an international coalition led by the United States in Syria. In his opinion, the Russian Federation "still has time to be on the right side."

  Saudi Arabia, Russia, Syria, Assad

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