Russian delegation meets with Syrian president; discusses bilateral cooperation
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – In the first visit of its kind since 2012, a Russian delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Damascus to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Monday.
According to the pro-Syrian government newspaper al-Watan, Borisov arrived on Sunday, with Lavrov arriving one day later for a press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.
Russia and Syria have been allies for decades, with their relations dating back to the Soviet desire to expand its influence in the Middle East in the 1950s, according to Syrian Kurdish writer Shoresh Darwish. Russia’s only naval base on the Mediterranean Sea is in Syria’s Tartus, and Russia has provided air defense missile systems, notably the S-300. The Syrian government has also signed many agreements over the rights to oil exploration and natural gas found in Syrian territory.
During the meeting with Lavrov and Borisov, the Syrian president expressed his desire to strengthen ties with Russia in order to ease the difficulties caused by economic sanctions imposed by the US’s Caesar Act.
The Caesar Act, also known as the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, became law in the United States in 2019. The Act entails a series of sanctions aimed at targeting the Syrian government and any individuals or states which aid it. The act was named after a defector from the Syrian intelligence services, a military photographer codenamed Caesar, who submitted about 55,000 photos documenting the massacres and war crimes committed by Syrian security services against civilians and demonstrators in Syria since 2011.
The official Syrian government news agency SANA reported that Syrian Prime Minister Hussein Arnous discussed with the Russian delegation bilateral cooperation regarding the Syrian economy as well as potential Russian investments in order to ease Syria’s worsening economic crisis.
Borisov affirmed Russian commitment to helping the Syrian government recover territory it lost during the years-long crisis and civil war, and hinted at the possibility of signing new economic agreements, according to SANA.