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Translated by: Flutura Gashi-Mehmeti
- March 20 2025 14: 59
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a message to Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa expressing his support for efforts to guarantee Syria's territorial integrity and offering Russia's "practical cooperation" on a number of issues, the Kremlin announced on Thursday.
The fall in December of President Bashar al-Assad at the hands of rebels led by Sharaa, after 13 years of civil war, has forced Russia to try to secure its bases in the country.
Moscow is also concerned by a wave of sectarian killings in Syria, Reuters reports.
Putin told Sharaa that he supports "efforts to stabilize the situation in the country as soon as possible in the interests of guaranteeing its sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russian news agencies.
Putin also confirmed Russia's "continued readiness to develop practical cooperation with the Syrian leadership."
The Kremlin, which was a key ally of the former Assad family in power for more than 50 years, said earlier this month that it wanted to see a united and "friendly" Syria because instability there could affect the entire Middle East.
