DAMASCUS (Reuters) -Syria hopes for “strategic partnerships” with Ukraine, its new international minister informed his Ukrainian counterpart on Monday, as Kyiv strikes to construct ties with the brand new Islamist rulers in Damascus amid waning Russian affect.
Russia was a staunch ally of ousted President Bashar al-Assad and has given him political asylum. Moscow has stated it’s in touch with the brand new administration in Damascus, together with over the destiny of Russian army amenities in Syria.
“There will be strategic partnerships between us and Ukraine on the political, economic and social levels, and scientific partnerships,” Syria’s newly appointed international minister, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, informed Ukraine’s Andrii Sybiha.
“Certainly the Syrian people and the Ukrainian people have the same experience and the same suffering that we endured over 14 years,” he added, apparently drawing a parallel between Syria’s brutal 2011-24 civil struggle and Russia’s seizure of Ukrainian territory culminating in its full-scale 2022 invasion.
Sybiha, who additionally met Syria’s new de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Monday, stated Ukraine would ship extra meals assist shipments to Syria after the anticipated arrival of 20 shipments of flour on Tuesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy introduced final Friday the dispatch of Ukraine’s first batch of meals assist to Syria comprising 500 metric tons of wheat flour as a part of Kyiv’s humanitarian “Grain from Ukraine” initiative in cooperation with the United Nations World Meals Programme.
RUSSIAN INFLUENCE SQUEEZED
Ukraine, a world producer and exporter of grain and oilseeds, historically exports wheat and corn to international locations within the Center East, however to not Syria, which within the Assad period imported meals from Russia.
Russian wheat provides to Syria have been suspended due to uncertainty concerning the new authorities in Damascus and fee delays, Russian and Syrian sources informed Reuters in early December. Russia had equipped wheat to Syria utilizing advanced monetary and logistical preparations to bypass Western sanctions imposed on each Moscow and Damascus.
The ousting of Assad by al-Sharaa’s Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has thrown the way forward for Russia’s army bases in Syria – the Hmeimim airbase in Latakia and the Tartous naval facility – into query.
Russian International Minister Sergei Lavrov stated the standing of Russia’s army bases can be the topic of negotiations with the brand new management in Damascus.
Al-Sharaa stated this month that Syria’s relations with Russia ought to serve frequent pursuits. In an interview revealed on Sunday, he stated Syria shared strategic pursuits with Russia, hanging a conciliatory tone, although he didn’t elaborate.
