Jordan and Russia have agreed to step up coordination in tackling instability in southern Syria, which Amman blames on Iran-linked militias and multi-billion dollar drug smuggling across its border, Jordan's foreign minister said on Thursday.
Ayman al Safadi was speaking after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that centered on south Syria to "neutralize the potential dangers of instability" in the area.
"There is a need for coordination and this is the focus of expansive discussions. The danger of drug smuggling to Jordan and across its territory by hostile militias," Safadi told a news conference.
"There is a need for coordination and this is the focus of expansive discussions. The danger of drug smuggling to Jordan and across its territory by hostile militias."
Ayman al Safadi
Russia whose military intervention helped Syrian President Bashar al Assad regain most of the country from insurgents during an over decade-long civil war backed a political solution to end the conflict, Lavrov said.
The growing influence of Iranian-backed militias including Lebanon's Hezbollah group in southern Syria in recent years has already alarmed both Jordan and Israel. READ MORE