Syrian FM on Moscow visit says wants Russia 'by our side'

MOSCOW

Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani said his country wants Russia "by our side" and called for "mutual respect" between the two nations following the overthrow of Syria's previous Moscow-backed government last year.

Former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, a key Russian ally in the Middle East, reportedly fled to Moscow last year after being ousted in a lightning rebel offensive that ended five decades of rule by the Assad family.

Russia's naval base in Tartus and its air base at Hmeimim, both on Syria's Mediterranean coast, are Moscow's only official military outposts outside the former Soviet Union.

"The current period is full of various challenges and threats, but it is also an opportunity to build a united and strong Syria. And, of course, we are interested in having Russia by our side on this path," he told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during a visit to Moscow, according to a Russian translation of his comments.

"But, of course, there are a number of factors that determine and complicate these relations on the ground," Shaibani said, adding that the relations should be based on "mutual respect."

It is unclear whether the new government, against whom Russia supported Assad's forces with airstrikes in the civil war, will allow Moscow to keep its bases in the country.

Lavrov said Russia was "ready to provide the Syrian people with all possible assistance” in post-conflict reconstruction.

The Syrian top diplomat was also expected to meet with an Israeli minister on July 31 in Azerbaijan, according to sources.

The meeting between Shaibani and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer follows a similar meeting between the two ministers in Paris last week.

During Moscow visit, the Syrian foreign minister said that Israel is exploiting the "minorities card" to justify interference in Syria’s internal affairs.

Shaibani asserted that the country’s Druze community is being manipulated to fracture Syrian society, reinforcing the claim that Damascus cannot protect all of its citizens.