Syria's Assad 'Ready to Recognize' Russian Separatist States in Ukraine

The regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, which remains in power almost exclusively thanks to Russian intervention during a decade-long civil war, expressed “support” for Vladimir Putin’s decision on Monday to recognize Russian proxy groups in Ukraine as sovereign “states.”

Putin announced that he would recognize the independence of two Russian separatist regions in eastern Ukraine’s Donbass region — the “Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR)” and the “Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR)” and ordered Russian troops into those areas of Ukraine.

“In comments carried by the state-run Syrian News Agency, Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad was quoted as saying that the government of President Bashar al-Assad ‘will cooperate’ with the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR),” Al Jazeera relayed on February 22.

Mekdad’s comment followed hours after Dmitry Sablin — a Russian government official in charge of Moscow’s relations with Damascus — told RIA Novosti “he had spoken to al-Assad about the situation in eastern Ukraine,” Al Jazeera reported.

“He [al-Assad] said Syria was ready to recognize them [the DPR and LNR] just as it recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia,” Sablin told the Russian state-owned news outlet.

Sablin referred to breakaway Georgian regions recognized by Russia as separatist republics during the 2008 Russo-Georgian war. Much like this week’s events, Putin at the time declared Russian puppet entities in those regions their own states and intervened to strip then-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili of power in the region.

Syrian Foreign Minister Mekdad made remarks in support of Moscow on Tuesday during an appearance at the Valdai Discussion Club, which is a Russian-led think tank and dialogue forum held annually. The Valdai Club’s 11th Middle East Conference — titled “Russia and the Middle East: Strategic Rapprochement and Interweaving of Interests” — launched on February 21 in Moscow and will last through February 22.

Mekdad met with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on February 21 as the two ministers headlined the latest Valdai Club conference, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported. The Syrian foreign minister specifically mentioned Ukraine during a joint press conference alongside Lavrov on Monday, stating:

The campaign of hypocrisy, lies and deception waged by the West is the same as the campaign it launched against Syria. Western countries encourage Ukraine to launch attacks on Russia, supply it with weapons, establish bases, violate international agreements on non-proliferation, continue to work on expanding NATO, and threaten the Russian Federation and other countries in the world.

Continuing, Mekdad expressed “support” for Putin’s actions in Ukraine:

We affirm our support to the stances expressed by President Vladimir Putin and the credibility through which he dealt with those issues of basic commitment to Russia’s international obligations, and we condemn all attempts of mobilization, attack, lies or media terrorism practiced by western countries during the latest weeks to defame the image of the Russian Federation and its constructive stances.

Putin announced plans on February 21 to formally recognize the independence of the DPR and LNR.

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