Saudi Arabia and Egypt rejected any threat of military offensives against Syrian territory in a joint statement after the foreign affairs ministers of the two countries met in the Saudi capital Riyadh last week.

Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry and his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan stated that they agreed on the need to support Syria’s efforts to preserve its independence and territorial unity, North Press Agency reported.

Stating that they oppose the attempts of regional parties to interfere in the internal affairs of Arab countries, threaten their stability and undermine the interests of their people, the two ministers also emphasised the need to advance the political process in Syria through intra-Syrian negotiations sponsored by the UN envoy.

After the joint statement from Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazlum Abdî said on Saturday that he welcomed position of the two countries on the issue, and called for the need “to move forward in the political process to end the crisis that befell the Syrians.”

The joint statement from Saudi Arabia and Egypt was in reference to Turkey’s aggression against North and East Syria. Turkey has launched several military offensives into Syria since 2018, claiming that it needs to eliminate the Kurdish forces in the northeast to secure its national borders.