First meeting in 15 years: Ukraine and Syria restore diplomatic ties
Photo: meeting of the presidents of Ukraine and Syria (president.gov.ua)
On Wednesday, September 24, Ukraine and Syria signed a joint communiqué on the restoration of diplomatic relations, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine welcomed this important step and was ready to support the Syrian people on their path to stability.
Zelenskyy informed that during talks with Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa, they discussed promising areas for cooperation, security threats facing both countries, and the importance of countering them. He emphasized that both sides agreed to build relations based on mutual respect and trust.
The visit of a Syrian president to Ukraine last took place on December 2–3, 2010, when Bashar al-Assad was hosted by then-Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, prime minister Mykola Azarov, and parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn.
Ukraine was among the first states to carry out a high-level visit to Syria after the fall of Assad’s regime. On December 30, 2024, a delegation led by Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha traveled to Damascus.
Bilateral relations were frozen in 2014, when Russia occupied Crimea and started its aggression in Donbas. That year, Syria voted against a UN resolution supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity, consolidating its role as a Russian ally.
In 2016, Ukraine’s embassy in Syria was evacuated to Lebanon due to security concerns, although Syria’s embassy in Kyiv remained operational until 2018. Diplomatic ties were officially severed in 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as Assad’s regime openly supported Moscow.
