Russian President Vladimir Putin is against the idea of Iraq hosting a high-level reconciliation meeting between Turkey and Syria in Baghdad, the Middle East Eye reported.

Since April, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has stepped up his efforts to mediate a possible "normalisation" agreement between Turkey and Syria, according to sources close to the talks within the Iraqi government.

MEE's source said that Sudani wanted to organise the first meeting between Erdogan and Assad in Baghdad, but that the “Putin isn’t in favour of such an idea. He supports a meeting in Turkey."

Umit Nazmi Hazir, a Moscow-based expert on Russian affairs, told the Middle East Eye that Russia doesn’t want to lose its role in talks to facilitate the normalisation of relations, having been involved from the beginning.

"At the same time, for Russia, the realisation of the normalisation process under Iraq's leadership carries the risk of other actors getting involved," he said.

"Russia, which is dealing with the Ukraine problem, wants the Syrian crisis to be solved and its burden to be eased; but it wants to do this by increasing its domination in Syria," Hazir added.