MOSCOW, March.31, (ST)- A joint expanded meeting was held on Thursday at the Russian Federal Council Headquarters via video between the Russian Council, Syrian people’s Assembly and Syrian-Russian Friendship Parliamentary Group, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
The agency reported that the talks during the meeting dealt with the ways of enhancing parliamentary cooperation and the cooperation in the humanitarian field, education and scientific research.
The Russian side was chaired by the member of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, Sergey Muratov, with the participation of Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev, , members of the Federation Council and the Russian Ambassador in Damascus, Alexander Efimov.
Kosachev said that cooperation with Syria constitutes a very important element in the work of the members of the Russian Federation Council, stressing that Syria’s firm stance related to rejecting any concessions to its sovereignty is an additional factor for rapprochement between the peoples of the two countries.
For his part, Deputy Speaker of the people’s Assembly Mohammad Akram al-Ajlani, affirmed Syria’s support for the Russian special military operation, which aims to protect the residents of Donbass, disarm Ukraine and uproot Nazism from it.
Deputy Minister of Higher Education Abdul latif Hanano referred to the fruitful cooperation between scientific and educational institutes of the two countries, expressing Syria’s thanks to the scholarships that have been offered by the Russian universities for Syrian students, demanding a help from the Russian universities to accept the students who were studying in Ukrainian universities.
The Syrian Ambassador in Moscow, Riad Haddad, stressed Syria’s support to the Russian Federation, its people, army and leadership in its efforts aimed at restoring the lost balance in the world, correcting the course of history, defending higher values, international law, and respecting the sovereignty of states.
He also affirmed the need to upgrade the bilateral relations between Syria and Russia in all fields, wishing success to the Syrian-Russian Friendship Parliamentary Group in achieving its goals.
Basma Qaddour