MOSCOW — Russia’s prime diplomat on Thursday met together with his Syrian counterpart through the first formal to Moscow by an official of the brand new authorities in Damascus since former Syrian President Bashar Assad was ousted in a rebel offensive last year regardless of years of Russian assist.
Opening the talks, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov instructed Syrian International Minister Asaad al-Shibani that the Russian authorities “sincerely want that the Syrian folks, with whom we’ve long-standing friendship, overcome all current challenges and utterly normalize the state of affairs,” and al-Shibani stated Syria was enthusiastic about ties with Russia and having Russia “by our aspect.”
Assad was an ally of Russia, and Moscow’s scorched-earth intervention in assist of him a decade in the past turned the tide of Syria’s civil conflict and maintain Assad in his seat for years. Nonetheless, when rebel teams launched a brand new offensive final 12 months, Russia didn’t intervene once more to save lots of Assad.
Assad took refuge in Russia after his ouster, later claiming in a press release posted on Fb that he had needed to remain within the nation and proceed combating however that the Russians had pulled him out.
Regardless of having been on reverse sides of the battle traces through the civil conflict, the brand new rulers in Damascus, headed by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, have taken a practical method to relations with Moscow.
A Russian delegation visited Damascus in January, and the next month Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had a name with al-Sharaa that the Kremlin described as “constructive and business-like.” Some Russian forces have remained on the Syrian coast, and Russia has reportedly despatched oil shipments to Syria.
Al-Sharaa thanked Russia for its “sturdy place in rejecting Israeli strikes and repeated violations of Syrian sovereignty” after Israel intervened in clashes between Syrian authorities forces and armed teams from the Druze religious minority earlier this month.
Talking to reporters after the talks on Thursday, Lavrov thanked “Syrian colleagues for the steps they’re taking to make sure the protection of Russian residents and Russian services” in Syria.
“We reaffirmed our assist for the preservation of the unity, territorial integrity and independence of the Syrian Arab Republic and are prepared to supply the Syrian folks with all attainable help in post-conflict reconstruction. We agreed that we are going to proceed our dialogue on these points,” Lavrov stated.
With out naming Assad, al-Shibani referred to as on Russia to assist the nation’s post-Assad “transitional justice” course of and stated Syria has shaped a committee to overview preexisting agreements with Russia.
Al-Shibani criticized Israel’s “interference in inside affairs” and stated it complicates efforts to resolve conflicts between completely different communities in Syria.
“Many international locations need stability and safety in Syria, however there are some that need a weak and divided Syria, that need to show that the federal government is unable to guard the minorities or that there are inside issues,” he stated.
He added that Syria’s new authorities has “stated since day one which we’ve no hostile intentions in direction of Israel. We pose no risk to Israel. Syria simply needs to rebuild itself. We’re uninterested in the conflict over the previous 14 years.”