Putin, Assad joke about a Trump 'road to Damascus' moment

During his visit to Syria last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition, a Greek-Melkite Orthodox church in Damascus.

In a video posted to Twitter this week, Putin and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad stand with a clergyman in black vestments and share a laugh.

According to a translation of their exchange, Assad tells Putin about the apostle Paul’s conversion to Christianity as he traveled on the road to Damascus. Assad continues:

Assad: "If [Donald] Trump arrives along this road, everything will become normal with him too."

Putin: “It will be repaired … invite him. He will come.”

Assad says he is ready to invite Trump.

Putin: “I will tell him."

The story in the Bible’s Book of Acts relates that Saul, a persecutor of Christians, is blinded by a light from heaven and hears Jesus ask him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Saul’s sight is restored three days later and he goes on to take the name Paul and become a leader in the Church.

The story is the basis for the idiom “road to Damascus moment,” used to describe a pivotal experience.

The video was posted to Twitter by Dmitry Smirnov, a Russian journalist assigned to the Kremlin press pool.

Putin arrived in Syria amid heightened tensions in the Middle East as Iran vowed to retaliate against the U.S. after Trump ordered the strike that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. It was Putin’s second visit since Russian forces intervened in Syria’s civil war in 2015.

The brief conversation, though said in jest, reflects the tangled web of alliances in the region, where an allegiance can shift as quickly as Saul was converted.

Soleimani was instrumental in organizing Iranian-backed forces that fought for Assad’s government. He coordinated with Russian forces as they prepared to start operations in Syria in support of Assad. Still, Iran and Russia experienced tensions as they vied for influence in the shattered country.

U.S. forces were supporting opposition groups in Syria who were also fighting ISIS. Russia, the Syrian government and Iranian proxy militias were fighting ISIS while simultaneously bombing U.S.-backed forces. Trump has long been dogged by accusations of allegiance to Putin while at times condemning Assad’s military and launching a nominal strike against a Syrian air base.

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