After the Assad regime recognized the independence of the separatist republics, Ukraine completely severed ties with Syria | Unsurprisingly, in the past, Syria has also recognized the independence of the separatist provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which in Georgia were occupied by Russia.
While Ukraine is fighting the Russian bear, President Zlansky is also finding time to take diplomatic action, and yesterday he declared a complete severance of diplomatic relations with Syria. This, after the Assad regime had declared full recognition of their independence the day before.
In fact, Syria receives orders on a regular basis from Moscow, so the decision to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Logasnak as independent states is completely predictable and does not come as a surprise. In the past, Syria has also recognized the independence of the separatist provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Georgia.
At the same time, the bloody war continues in Donetsk and Lugansk, collectively known as the Donbas Region. Yesterday it was reported that in the city of Lisichensk about 15,000 Ukrainian civilians remained under siege, while Russia bombed the city mercilessly, as it had previously done to the nearby Siberdoniec, and earlier to the port city of Mariupol.
“There is no doubt that the Syrian regime is trying to grant the Russian occupation of Donetsk and Luhansk on the orders of its Kremlin personnel,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The ministry condemned the decision as “an unfriendly act against Ukraine, a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a blatant violation of Ukrainian law, the UN Charter and the basic norms and principles of international law.”
“In response to this unfriendly act, Ukraine declares severance of diplomatic relations with Syria, in accordance with Article 2 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations concluded in Vienna on 24 April 1963,” they added. The Ukrainian side is also initiating the procedure of imposing a trade embargo on Syria, as well as imposing other sanctions on entities and legal entities in Syria.
“Our position is clear. We respond as severely as possible to any attempt to undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and defend national interests by all available means, including on the diplomatic front,” Foreign Minister Dmitry Kolba stressed.
In 2016, Ukraine closed its embassy in Damascus following Bashar al-Assad’s war crimes against the Syrian people and ordered the closure of the Syrian embassy in Ukraine in 2018.
Thousands of civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the war with Russia began on February 24. More than 14 million people have been forced to flee their homes, including more than 7.7 million who fled to other countries, according to UN data.