MOSCOW (AFP) – Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Syria on Tuesday for meetings with President Bashar al-Assad and to tour a Russian air base in the war-torn nation, his ministry said, amid rising tensions between the West and Moscow over Ukraine.
Shoigu “informed the Syrian president on Russian navy drills in the eastern Mediterranean” during a visit in Damascus, Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement.
The two talked on “military-technical cooperation as part of the joint battle” against international terrorism, as well as Russian humanitarian aid to Syrians “suffering from prohibitive sanctions imposed by the United States and Western countries.”
The exact date of the meeting was not specified in the announcement.
Throughout the Syrian war, which began in 2011 with the crushing of anti-government rallies, Moscow has been a significant partner of the Assad administration.
Russia’s military intervention in 2015 aided in turning the war’s tide in Assad’s favour, and Moscow retains military outposts in Syria.
Russia’s political and military assistance for Syria has been a stumbling block in Moscow’s ties with the West, which has sanctioned Moscow for supporting the Assad government.
Tensions between Moscow and the West have risen in recent months, with the West accusing Moscow of stockpiling soldiers on its Ukrainian border in preparation for an invasion.
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