The Russian Foreign Ministry called speculation and information stuffing judgments about the alleged deterioration of relations between Russia and Syria. This was stated by the Russian President's Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov in an interview with the Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram, published on Monday on the website of the Russian Diplomatic Department.
"There is really nothing behind the various speculations about the alleged differences between Moscow and Damascus. This kind of artificially inflated information throw-in is aimed at forming a distorted view of Russian-Syrian relations and is deliberately played out by parties hostile to both countries," Bogdanov said, answering a question about whether the assumptions about the decline in the level of coordination and trust between the two countries are correct.
According to him, such steps are being taken in the course of exerting general political and economic pressure on Syria, which "with the support of Russia was able to block attempts to impose someone else's will on it militarily."
The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister stressed that the Russian side attaches great importance to the progress of the political process carried out by the Syrians themselves without external interference in the settlement of the crisis in Syria, and also expressed hope for the next round of inter-Syrian dialogue in Geneva on the agreed agenda after the lifting of restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Future of relations between Russia and Syria
Bogdanov expressed confidence that relations with Syria would continue to be built "on a mutually respectful, equal basis with strict compliance with international and bilateral obligations." The diplomat pointed to the active trade and economic cooperation between the countries, as well as the existence of a number of agreements and memoranda aimed at enhancing ties. "Despite the objective difficulties associated with the security situation and Western sanctions pressure, Russian private businesses are also actively interested in the Syrian market," the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister added.
At the same time, he suggested that for the Syrian colleagues for a long time, national identity would have "not the last importance" when determining a foreign contractor for the implementation of joint projects. "It is unlikely that Syrians will unnecessarily make a choice in favor of representatives of those countries whose governments were involved in inflating the long - term fratricidal conflict in Syria and actually provoked international terrorists to aggression against the Syrian people," Bogdanov said. In his opinion, today, in addition to Russia, there are good opportunities in Syria for Belarusian, Iranian, Chinese and Indian companies, as well as for Arab capital.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS