The Syrian detente continues: Syrian president Bashar Al Assad visited the UAE on Sunday, where he met with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and a number of Emirati officials, state news agency WAM reported. “We held constructive talks aimed at developing relations between our two countries. Our discussions also explored ways of enhancing cooperation to accelerate stability and progress in Syria and the region,” Al Nahyan said in a tweet. This came following a report in the Wall Street Journal that claimed that Arab states are offering Al Assad a way out of isolation that would see them provide bns of USD for post-war reconstruction in return for political reform and curbing Iranian influence in the country.

Egypt is on board: Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry earlier this month became the first Egyptian diplomat to make an official visit to Syria in a decade.

Africa receives debt relief, wheat pledges from Russia: “Russia wrote off debts of African states in the amount over USD 20 bn,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday during a speech at Russia-Africa conference, Russian news agency Tass reported. The Russian leader also pledged to send grains to African countries for free if Moscow is unable to reach an agreement with Ukraine to extend the Black Sea grain initiative within the next 60 days, according to Reuters.

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