Syria seeks to strengthen, restore ties with Russia: President Sharaa

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said Wednesday that Damascus is willing to restore “historic and strategic” relations with Russia, Anadolu reports.

“We respect all the past agreements and the great history with Russia, and we try to restore the nature of these relations,” Sharaa said in a joint press conference in Moscow with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

“We have close relations with Russia, and a large part of Syria’s energy sector depends on Russian expertise,” he added.

Al-Sharaa, who led rebel forces into Damascus last December and later established a new government, overthrew Assad after years of civil war. The former president fled to Russia shortly afterward.

Since Assad’s ouster, Moscow has sought to maintain ties with the new Syrian authorities, offering diplomatic backing amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Syrian territory.

In July, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov received Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Sheibani in Moscow — the first visit by a senior Syrian official since the fall of the Assad regime.