Syria breaks diplomatic ties with Ukraine

Moscow and Damascus grew closer after Putin intervened in Syria’s civil war to help tip the balance of power in favour of President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria, a close ally of Russia, has announced it is formally breaking diplomatic ties with Ukraine in response to a similar move by Kyiv.

“The Syrian Arab Republic has decided to break diplomatic relations with Ukraine in conformity with the principle of reciprocity,” a Syrian foreign ministry statement said on Wednesday, July 20, 2022.

Late last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv would cut ties after Syria recognised the Russian-backed breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.

“There will no longer be relations between Ukraine and Syria,” Zelenskyy said at the time.

The Syrian foreign ministry said Ukraine had first ruptured relations in 2018 by refusing to revalidate the residencies of its diplomatic staff in Kyiv, making it impossible for them to carry out their duties.

It added that the Syrian embassy at that time suspended its duties “as a result of the hostile attitudes of the Ukrainian government.”

Wednesday’s announcement comes as Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad meets Iranian officials in Tehran, a day after a summit between the leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey in the Iranian capital.

In only his second trip abroad since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the conflict in Syria with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Moscow and Damascus grew closer after Putin intervened in Syria’s civil war to help tip the balance of power in favour of President Bashar al-Assad.

In turn, Assad’s government in 2018 sided with Russia to recognise two Russian-sponsored breakaway republics, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which are internationally recognised as part of Georgia.

Syria has also recognised the independence of the breakaway states in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, again in contrast to the international community.

In April, analysts told Al Jazeera that Russia was attempting to attract Syrian fighters to Ukraine to join its forces.