MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/: Russia thinks highly of Syria’s support for the special military operation in Ukraine as well as of Damascus recognizing the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said opening talks with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad on Tuesday.
According to the Russian top diplomat, both Syria and the Russian Federation belong to the group of countries that consistently support international law, the respect for the UN Charter principles, the principle of the sovereign equality of states, the establishment of fairness in international relations and the principle of equitable and indivisible security for all.
"It is precisely on this solid international legal foundation that Russia displays solidarity with the Syrian Arab Republic in the war on terrorism, in the fight to recover its territorial integrity. And in a reciprocal move, as another confirmation of its adherence to the aforementioned principles, Syria displays solidarity with Russia over our special military operation," Lavrov said. "We appreciated that Damascus recognized the independence and sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics this June," he added.
On February 21, 2022, Russia officially recognized the sovereignty of the DPR and LPR, the following day diplomatic relations were established between Moscow and Lugansk and Donetsk. In 2014, South Ossetia became the first country to recognize the independence of the Donbass republics. Abkhazia did the same following Russia on February 25, 2022. Syria made the decision to recognize the independence of the two republics on June 29 and North Korea did so on July 13.
