Vladimir Putin: Russia stands for Syria’s integrity, sovereignty

Photo: TASS

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa have exchanged views on the situation in the country, the Kremlin press service reported, citing the content of the telephone conversation between the heads of state, TASS informs.

"The sides held a substantive exchange of views on the current situation in Syria," the statement said. "The Russian side stressed its principled position in support of the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian state," the press service said.

According to the statement, in this context, the sides "emphasized the importance of implementing a number of measures in the interest of establishing a sustainable normalization of relations in the country, activating the inter-Syrian dialogue with the participation of all leading political forces and ethno-confessional groups of the population."

Armed opposition units in Syria launched a large-scale offensive on government troops in the Aleppo and Idlib governorates in late November 2024. On December 8, they entered Damascus, while President Bashar Assad stepped down and fled the country. On December 10, Mohammed al-Bashir, who had led the so-called Syrian Salvation Government in the Idlib governorate, announced his appointment as head of Syria’s interim government, saying that the transitional period would last until March 1, 2025. The leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (outlawed in Russia), Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has become Syria’s de facto new leader.

The current conversation is the first official high-level contact between Russia and Syria after the change of power in Damascus.

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