Putin and al-Sharaa hold talks in Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in the capital of Russia on January 28, the Kremlin website reported.

It was noted that much has been done to restore relations between Russia and Syria since the last visit of the country's president in October.

"We have managed to give a start to cooperation in the economic sphere,"  Putin said.

The Russian leader recalled that Moscow and Damascus have planned significant projects in the spheres of industry, sports, medicine and construction.

"Our various departments have been actively working since your previous visit. A large interdepartmental delegation of the Russian government visited Syria and worked very actively with colleagues in Syria. So we have planned notable initiatives in this regard, in the direction of industry, in the direction of humanitarian agencies and this is sports, medicine and construction," Putin said.

He also noted the need to discuss the economic component of relations between Russia and Syria.

 The Russian head of state noted that Moscow has always called for restoring Syria’s territorial integrity.

"We have closely followed your efforts to restore Syria’s territorial integrity. I would like to congratulate you on the process gaining momentum. We have always called for restoring the territorial integrity of Syria, you know that. And we support all your efforts to that end," Putin said.

The Syrian President noted that Russia plays a significant role in stabilizing the situation in Syria and the entire Middle East.

"Russia is playing a historic role in achieving unity and stabilizing the situation not only in Syria, but also in the region [as a whole]. We hope that these efforts will continue until the Middle East region attains a higher development and prosperity," Al-Sharaa said.

He also thanked Putin for efforts in this direction.

According to the Syrian leader, Damascus and Moscow have a lot of topics to work on and discuss. He expressed hope that the sides will discuss them in detail during their meeting, that will be fruitful.