Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s talks with Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad Al-Shaibani

Photo: MFA

Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s talks with Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad Al-Shaibani.

On December 24, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad Al-Shaibani, who is in Moscow on a working visit.

The ministers discussed avenues for expanding bilateral relations, with a focus on deepening political dialogue and expanding mutually beneficial cooperation across various fields. They highlighted the effective work of the Permanent Russian-Syrian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, and Technical Cooperation.

In their exchange of views on the situation in and around Syria, Minister Lavrov reaffirmed Russia’s principled support for the country’s sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity. Both sides emphasised the need to consolidate international and regional efforts to achieve sustainable stabilisation and post-conflict economic recovery in the Syrian Arab Republic.

The discussion also covered current international and regional issues. The ministers shared a common view on the importance of intensifying collective efforts to normalise the situation in the Middle East and North Africa.

The parties agreed to maintain contact at various levels, including within the United Nations and other multilateral forums.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks during talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the Syrian Arab Republic Asaad al-Shaibani

Mr Minister, colleagues,

It is good that we meet more frequently these days.

Only recently, you accompanied transitional president of the Syrian Arab Republic Ahmed al-Sharaa during his talks with President Vladimir Putin.

I know that, according to general opinions, the visit was rather timely and productive. I believe that the primary purpose of the visit was for Russia to affirm unequivocally its recognition of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Immediately afterwards, the Permanent Russian-Syrian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation held a meeting, where transitional president of the Syrian Arab Republic Ahmed al-Sharaa and the Russian co-chair, Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities Irek Fayzullin reached a principled agreement on developing our trade and economic links for mutual benefit on the foundation established in the past decades. Your current visit is an opportunity to continue this regular alignment of positions, which is quite useful.

I know that yesterday, you had a substantive meeting with President of Russia Vladimir Putin to discuss bilateral issues, the situation in the region, and practical steps to ensure the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, which is, as I said, a matter of primary importance.

Mr Minister, I know that at the meeting yesterday, you expressed satisfaction with our cooperation at international platforms and interest in deepening this cooperation.

Today we have a good opportunity to go into the details of this issue and outline specific actions to achieve this goal.

read more in our Telegram-channel https://t.me/The_International_Affairs