Syria’s de facto new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa and other officials have held talks with Ukraine’s foreign minister in one of the most consequential visits since the fall of Bashar al-Assad on December 8.

Syria hopes for “strategic partnerships” with Ukraine, its newly appointed foreign minister, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, told his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, in Damascus on Monday.

“Certainly the Syrian people and the Ukrainian people have the same experience and the same suffering that we endured over 14 years,” he added, drawing parallels between Syria’s 2011-2024 war and Russia’s seizure of Ukrainian territory in 2014 and culminating in its full-scale 2022 invasion.

Russia was a staunch ally of President al-Assad and has given him political asylum.

“We look forward to mutual recognition of the sovereignty of the two countries so that we can complete diplomatic representation in Syria,” Sybiha said at a news conference after his Ukrainian delegation met the Syrian leaders.

“We believe Ukrainian-Syrian relations will witness great development,” he added.