Russia's Ukraine invasion will restore balance in global order after fall of Soviet Union, says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

Amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad held a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday.

Praising the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Syrian President said it was a "correction of history". "President Assad stressed that what is happening today is a correction of history and a restoration of balance in the global order after the fall of the Soviet Union," said a statement from the Syrian presidency.

Earlier, the Syrian government had also supported Putin’s decision to recognise two Moscow-backed separatist-held regions in eastern Ukraine as independent.

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).

Notably, Putin has been a key ally of al-Assad throughout the Syrian war that erupted in 2011 with the quelling of anti-government protests.

Meanwhile, the Syrian cabinet has decided several measures to deal with the possible impact of the Ukraine crisis on the economic situation in Syria, according to state news agency SANA.

The measures were decided on Thursday during a government special mini-session, it said.

According to the report, the measures include implementing necessary steps to manage and boost the stocks of basic materials such as wheat, sugar, oil, rice and potato during the next two months, and to ensure the sustainability of their availability, Xinhua news agency reported.

The decision also includes restricting exports during the next two months for materials that can contribute to market stability such as olive oil, preserved foodstuff, and other materials, as well as managing the market's needs for medicines.

On the financial and banking level, the government decided to tighten control over the exchange market to ensure its stability during the next two months.

The measures aim to deal with any economic fluctuations that could affect the Syrian local market directly or indirectly, according to changes that may affect the global market, especially in the fields of energy, food and global transport.

(With IANS inputs)

Published on: Friday, February 25, 2022, 05:53 PM IST