MOSCOW, March 15 (Xinhua) — Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday, hailing the progress of relations between the two countries.
“Thanks to our joint efforts and the decisive contribution of the Russian armed forces, Syria has achieved tangible results in the fight against international terrorism,” Putin said during his talks with Assad in the Kremlin.
Putin indicated that trade between Russia and Syria grew by 7 percent in 2022, and Russia also contributed to mitigating the damage caused by the catastrophic earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria last month.
For his part, al-Assad, who arrived in Moscow on Tuesday evening, thanked Russia for the earthquake relief efforts, as well as for its position in the international arena in preserving Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to the Kremlin.
