Russian
President Vladimir Putin told his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in a new
year’s greeting that Russia will continue supporting Syria’s efforts to defend
its
sovereignty, the Kremlin said on Saturday.
Putin
stressed that Russia would “continue to render every assistance to Syria in the
protection of state sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, in the
promotion of a political settlement process, as well as in efforts to restore
the national economy,” the Kremlin said.
Earlier this
month Putin ordered the Russian forces in Syria to start withdrawing from the
country, but said Russia would keep its Hmeymim air base in Syria’s Latakia
Province as well as its naval facility at Tartous “on a permanent basis”.
Russia first
launched air strikes in Syria in September 2015 in its biggest Middle East
intervention in decades, turning the tide of the conflict in Assad’s favor.
*Reuters*
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