The government of Syria has recognized the Eastern region of Ukraine as an independent state, just four months after President Putin and the self-proclaimed leaders of Donetsk, Nataliya Nikoronova and Luhansk, Leonid Pasechnik signed a decree to declare the regions’ independence.
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad met with Russian lawmaker Dmitry Sablin and a Russian delegation in Damascus, Syria on June 14. The delegation consisted of the pro-Russian breakaway region of the Donbas foreign minister. The Syrian government declared on Wednesday, June 29 that “The Syrian Arab Republic had decided to recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Luhansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic” (ABC news). Contacts have begun to strengthen the alliance and establish diplomatic relations.
Syria’s foreseeable support for the Russian government and the separatist movements in the Donbas has precedence. Moscow’s intervention in the 2015 Syrian civil war kept President Bashar al-Assad in power and has enabled the institution of multifaceted bilateral relations. Damascus’s military aid for Moscow in its quest for Eastern Ukraine should come as no surprise. On June 14, the speaker of People’s Assembly of Syria Hammouda Sabbagh “reiterated Syria’s firm and consistent support for Russia in its special military operation in Ukraine aiming to preserve Russia’s national security along with protecting its people” (SANA).
A correspondent for the Venezuelan-based news agency Telesur reported on the constituents of Syria’s military involvement in the Russian-Ukraine war. The neo-Nazi attacks on the people of Donetsk and Luhansk that’s factored in Putin’s jus ad bellum supposedly increased in mid February. The news agency declared that these conflicts amplified “after receiving large quantity weapons and ammunition from the United States and the European Union, which arrived in Ukraine and Kiev,” referring to the neo-Nazis (Hisham Wannous).
Neo-Nazis have been exploiting Russia’s war against Ukraine for their own fulfillments.
Telesur is a Venezuelan-based multi state Latin American news agency. Venezuela is Russia’s biggest ally in the region.
Telesur emphasized the significance of the 2014 declaration of independence by the separatist movements of Donetsk and Luhansk, after a coup eliminated the Ukrainian authorities of the area. According the Hisham Wannous, “we must note that the relations between Syria and these two republics which are intended to establish would not only help Luhansk and Donetsk, but would also help Syria to break the Western and European economic blockade and thus also improve the living conditions of the peoples of the three nations.”
It is worth noting that since 2011, more than 500,000 Syrian lives have perished in the pro-democracy movement that ignited to oust President Bashar al-Assad, the leader of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party. Moscow’s military aid for the social party has generated several economic deals in energy, construction, and agriculture.