Ties with Russia deeply rooted and developing _ Mikdad to SANA

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Fayssal Mikdad, described the relations between Syria and Russia as 'developing and deeply rooted', noting Russia's principled positions in support of Syria in its war on terrorism and its stand against aggressive Western and American attempts to dominate the region and the entire world. 'The meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow was very important in terms of developing bilateral relations', Mikdad said in an interview with SANA's correspondent in Moscow, adding that the situation in the region, the United Nations, the Palestinian arena, along with the results achieved by the Arab summit in Bahrain were also discussed. 'We conveyed the congratulations and warm greetings of President Bashar al-Assad to His Excellency President Vladimir Putin after electing him as a president again with unprecedented consensus among the Russian people, and on the achievements made by the Russian army in the special military operation,' Minister Mikdad note d, indicating that there is an upcoming meeting for the joint governmental committee between the two countries in Damascus involving inking of bilateral agreements. In response to a question about the recognition of the State of Palestine by some Western countries, Minister Mikdad said: 'Those countries should have recognized the Palestinian State decades ago, but what saddens us and makes us tend to be pessimistic at times is that some of them are still stubborn and consider that the approach they are taking in absolute support for Israel is a track that leads to something important,'. He indicated that some Western countries are still persistent in their hostility to all Arab countries without exception because they are up to no good towards joint Arab action. Minister Mikdad added: 'We expect Western countries to reconsider their policies and follow the path that leads us all to a real achievement, including the establishment of an independent State of Palestine, stopping aggressive policies against our country, Syria, and stopping supporting terrorism and criminal gangs in the region, as well as stopping accusations.' Source: Syrian Arab News Agency