Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Moscow, SANA- the Syrian Embassy in Moscow held a central celebration marking the 80th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Syria and Russia, in cooperation with the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The ceremony was attended by Russia’s Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, senior officials of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian civil and military officials, a number of Russian social, cultural and religious figures, members of the Federation Council and the State Duma, ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Moscow, representatives of the Russian and foreign media, and members of the Syrian community.
In his speech presented at the ceremony, Bogdanov stressed the importance of Russian-Syrian relations and their geopolitical centrality, and praised the coordination between the two countries on regional and international issues.
He read the message of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in which he reiterated Moscow’s support for Syria’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence.
For his part, Syrian Ambassador Bashar Al-Jaafari said that the eightieth anniversary of Syrian-Russian diplomatic relations represents decades and years that go far beyond the date of their official announcement.
He stressed that the choice of Syria as the regional headquarters of the “Association of Lovers of Russia” was not a coincidence, but the result of the rapprochement on multiple cultural and political issues between the two countries, in addition to the unity of position against Western hegemony and the war that the two countries are waging against terrorism.
Diplomatic relations between Damascus and Moscow were established at the height of World War II, challenging the colonial hegemonic policies that were prevailed at the time, and the two countries are today again on the right side of history by confronting unipolar hegemony and seeking to create a just global order based on pluralism, he explained.
Al-Jaafari added that relations between the two countries deepened in the 1980s and were consolidated with the signing of the “Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation” between the two countries in the year 1980, which resulted in Soviet support for the Syrian Arab Army and the supply of weapons, advisors and experts.
Manar Salameh
