Russia’s Support for Syria hailed

DAMASCUS- Speaker of the People’s Assembly ((PA) Mohammad Jihad al-Laham on Sunday hailed the support of the Russian government and people for Syria in its war against the armed terrorist organizations, SANA reported.

During a meeting with a Russian parliamentary delegation, al-Laham affirmed that the Syrians highly appreciate Russia’s position towards their country.

Dmitry Sablin, member of the Russian Federation Council Defense and Security Committee, said the visit aims at listening to the Syrian officials about the upcoming parliamentary elections due to be held on April 13th and the difficulties facing them, if there are any, in order to support this peaceful process at the international forums.

He noted that the Russian parliamentarians support these elections in Syria and assert that political development is a right for all the Syrians.

 For his part, Sergei Gavrilov, Chairman of the State Duma’s Committee on Property Affairs, said the delegation has seen the preparations for the upcoming elections and felt obvious competition among all candidates through their campaigns that are going on all over the Syrian cities.

“These elections are in the interest of Russia as Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly expressed his support for legitimacy in Syria,” Gavrilov added.

On the other hand, the Russian delegation held talks with a number of PA members. The two sides stressed the need to strengthen parliamentary relations and continue coordination at the international forums to the best interest of the two countries, especially in the field of fighting terrorism and extremism and the implementation of relevant international resolutions.

Al-Halqi: Russian companies will be a real partner in the reconstruction era

Later, during his meeting with the Russian delegation, Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi said the Russian companies will be a real partner to their Syrian national counterparts in the post-crisis reconstruction stage in cooperation with those from other friendly countries.

He pointed out that prospects of cooperation between Russia and Syria are wide, referring to the possibility of expanding trade exchange and opening Russia’s markets for the Syrian products, particularly the agricultural ones.

The Russian parliamentary delegation is visiting Syria to held talks with Syrian officials on the forthcoming parliamentary elections in the country and on ways to boost cooperation between Syria and Russia in all domains and to reiterate Russia’s firm support for Syria.