After years of stagnation in the diplomatic field, Ukraine and Syria want to build a “strategic partnership”. The two countries will establish relations on the political, economic, social and scientific levels. After a meeting with the Ukrainian delegation on Monday in Damascus, the Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs in the interim government, Asad Hasan, said this TASR informs about it based on the reports of the Reuters and DPA agencies.
After a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybih, Šibány said that the Syrian and Ukrainian people have the same experience of suffering, referring to the bloody 2011-2024 civil war in Syria and Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territory, which culminated in the invasion of Russian forces, according to Reuters. in February 2022. After its start, diplomatic relations between Syria were also cut off and Ukraine.
Food aid
Sybiha, who also met with the new de facto leader of Syria Ahmad Shaar in Damascus, said that Ukraine will send shipments of food aid to Syria. According to him, trucks with 500 tons of Ukrainian flour will arrive in the country on Wednesday.
As the world’s leading grain exporter, Ukraine also exports wheat and corn to countries in the Middle East, but not to Syria, which imported food from Russia during the Assad era.
Wheat supplies from Russia to Syria have been suspended due to uncertainty over the new government in Damascus and payment delays, Russian and Syrian sources told Reuters in early December. Russia supplied wheat to Syria through complex financial and logistical procedures to circumvent Western sanctions imposed on both Moscow and Damascus.
Expectations of Ukraine
According to Sybih, Kyiv expects in return that the new Syrian government will comply with international law and cancel the illegal recognition of the annexation of Ukrainian territories by Russia by the regime of deposed President Bashar Assad.
Rebels led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched an offensive on November 27, during which they captured several key cities in quick succession, and 11 days later occupied the capital Damascus, from where Assad fled to Russia. At the time, HTS was led by Shar under his nom de guerre abu Muhammad Jawlani.
Despite Moscow’s support for Assad, Shara said in an interview with al-Arabiya television on Sunday that Russia and Syria share deep strategic interests. “All the weapons in Syria are of Russian origin and many power plants are managed by Russian experts… We do not want Russia to leave Syria as some wish,” Shara said.
Russia also has two military bases in Syria. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that their status will be the subject of negotiations with the new leadership in Damascus.
