Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani has said his country wants Russia “by our side”, marking the first formal visit to Moscow by an official of the new government in Damascus since Syria’s previous Russian-backed government was overthrown last year.
“The current period is full of various challenges and threats, but it is also an opportunity to build a united and strong Syria.
And, of course, we are interested in having Russia by our side on this path,” al-Shaibani told his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Thursday during his visit to Moscow, according to a Russian translation of his comments.
“But, of course, there are a number of factors that determine and complicate these relations on the ground,” al-Shaibani said, adding that the relations should be based on “mutual respect”.
Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a key Russian ally in the Middle East, fled to Moscow last year after being ousted in a lightning rebel offensive that ended five decades of the al-Assad family’s rule.
After settling in Russia, al-Assad later claimed in a statement posted on Facebook that he wanted to stay in the country and continue fighting, but that the Russians had pulled him out of the country.
Despite having been on opposite sides of the battle lines during the civil war – Russia took part in air attacks against the Syrian opposition and used its military might to prevent the regime’s collapse in the early years of the war – the new rulers in Damascus, headed by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, have taken a pragmatic approach to relations with Moscow.
A Russian delegation visited Damascus in January, and the following month, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had a call with al-Sharaa that the Kremlin described as “constructive and business-like”.
Russian forces have remained at Russia’s bases on the Syrian coast, and Russia has reportedly sent oil shipments to Syria.
