Damascus shares strategic interests with Moscow and needs its voice as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said in an interview with the Washington Post.
“We need Russia because it is a permanent member of the Security Council. We need its voice to be on our side on certain issues and we have strategic interests with it. We do not want to push Russia towards alternative or other solutions to the Syrian issue,“ he said.
In October, Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa told RIA Novosti that Damascus was open to developing relations with Moscow, which he described as an "active force".
The same month, Russian President Vladimir Putin and al-Sharaa held talks. As Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak explained, the parties discussed cooperation in various areas - energy, transport, tourism development, healthcare, and cultural and humanitarian issues.