Article Posted on : - Aug 22, 2008

Speaking to newsmen, Al Assad said that they understood what was behind Russia's position. “We believe this is a response to Georgian provocation. We support Moscow in this and are against any attempts to blacken Russia," he said.

After the meeting, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia was considering Syrian government request regarding delivery of weapons for defence purposes.
Presently, there is no cooperation between Moscow and NATO, after the latter condemned Russia for its actions in South Ossetia and threatened to pull down the NATO-Russia Council.

However, the Russian Foreign Minister said that they were not going to shut the door on NATO. “NATO could slam this door. Everything depends on NATO's priorities: if the priorities are absolutely supportive of Saakashvili's bankrupt regime to the detriment of partnership with Russia, then it is not our fault," he said.

Russia has begun withdrawing its troops from the occupied zone, but said 500 peacekeepers will be deployed in the so-called security zone near the border. Some of them will remain within the de facto borders of South Ossetia, while the rest will return home. The foreign minister said that his country was committed to the six principles of ceasefire, but some countries were resorting to diplomatic tricks.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s two separatist regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, have asked Moscow to recognise their independence.