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Syria
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (right) shakes hand with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad at a press conference in Moscow on February 21, 2022. Photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Syrian government supports Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognize two breakaway regions in Ukraine, Syria’s state media quoted its foreign minister as saying on Tuesday.
Putin announced on Monday that he will recognize self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine as independent republics. Western countries began sanctioning Moscow for the move which they see as a violation of international law hours after his address.
However, Faisal Mekdad, Syrian foreign minister, said during an event in Moscow that his country supports Putin’s decision, adding that what Western countries are doing against their Russian allies is similar to what they did to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in the last decade.
Russia has been the main backer of Assad’s regime since the breakout of an uprising and civil war in the country in 2011.
The Syrian presidency later clarified that Damascus’ willingness to recognize the breakaway regions is not new but dates back to December 2021.
“This position of the Syrian Arab Republic stems from its conviction that the Ukrainian crisis is a problem created by Western countries, especially the United States, to divide peoples and undermine Russian national security,” read a statement from the presidency on Tuesday.
“Syria affirms that it is ready to work on building and strengthening relations with the republics of Luhansk and Donetsk in the context of common interests and mutual respect,” it added.
The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk regions broke away from Kyiv control in 2014. Both regions are controlled by Moscow-supported separatists.
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