Russian-Syrian relations

The first Arab-Israeli war led to the formation and establishment in Egypt (1952) and Syria (1956) of radical anti-imperialist regimes ^[2] . In 1955, Syrian President Shukri al-Quatli refused the US invitation to join the Baghdad Pact against the USSR and entered into a military alliance with Egypt , and in 1956, during the Suez Crisis, Syria severed diplomatic relations with France and the UK . Under the clear influence of the policies of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Syria was increasingly moving away from the West and approaching the USSR ^{[3] [approx. 1]} . Since the mid-1950s, in Syria there has been a large apparatus of Soviet military advisers and specialists. The Soviet Union provided Syria with diplomatic and military support in the confrontation with Turkey, and since the 1960s, Israel . Syria along with Iraq were strategic partners of the USSR in the Middle East. In 1980, the USSR and Syria concluded the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation. With the participation of Soviet specialists, dozens of important economic facilities were built in Syria. The USSR took an active part in increasing the country's defense capability ^[4] .

In 1971, a naval logistics center was established in the Mediterranean port of Tartus .

Until 1991, Syria was one of the main buyers of Soviet weapons. Since 1956, when the first military contract was signed between the Soviet Union and Syria ^[5] , before the collapse of the USSR in 1991, Syria supplied arms worth more than $ 26 billion, including 65 tactical and operational-tactical missile systems destination, about 5 thousand tanks, more than 1,200 combat aircraft, 4,200 artillery guns and mortars, anti-aircraft missile systems, about 70 warships and boats. By the end of the 20th century, the Syrian army was equipped with Soviet weapons by more than 90%. Syrian officers were also trained in the USSR ^[6] .

The Syrian leadership, for its part, provided serious support to the foreign policy initiatives of the USSR. In particular, Syria was one of the few countries that supported the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan during the discussion at the UN General Assembly, and on key issues, Syria voted in solidarity with the countries of the Warsaw Pact Organization ^[4] .

With the collapse of the USSR, Russia largely lost its position in Syria and the Middle East as a whole, and in essence was forced to re-build relations with the countries of the region. The reorientation of Russian foreign policy priorities to the West, as well as the reluctance of the Syrian side to pay the Soviet debt to Russia (despite the recognition of Russia as the official legal successor of the USSR) led to the fact that trade between the two countries from one billion dollars in 1991 fell below $ 100 million in 1993 ^[4] .

Military-technical cooperation (MTC) with Syria was practically frozen in 1991 after the collapse of the USSR. Syria's debt for the delivered equipment and weapons for that period amounted to about $ 14.5 billion. In 2005, Russia wrote off $ 10 billion of debt to Syria in exchange for guarantees of new weapons orders. The rest of the debt was restructured ^[6] .

MTC relations resumed in mid-1994, when a corresponding agreement was signed in Damascus.

In 1996, Syria's supply of military equipment and spare parts amounted to $ 1.3 million, in 1997 - $ 1 million ^[6] .

After an official visit to Damascus by Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev in November 1998, the parties signed several new agreements in the field of military-technical cooperation. Russia has supplied Syria with a large batch of machine guns AKS-74U and AK-74M, grenade launchers and ammunition. In 1999, the contract began in 1996 for the supply of Syria Russian ATGMs “Metis-M” and “Cornet-E” ^[6] .

During the visit of the Minister of Defense of the SAR Mustafa Tlas to the Russian Federation in May 2001, the Syrian side announced their desire to modernize the S-200E long-range anti-aircraft missile systems delivered in Soviet times, T-55 and T-72 tanks, and BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles , aircraft Su-24, MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-25 and MiG-29 ^[6] .

In 2006, Russia delivered Sagittarius anti-aircraft missile systems to Syria. In the same year, a contract was signed for the supply of Syria anti-aircraft missile and cannon systems "Shell-C1" (by 2014, eleven out of 36 ordered) and the modernization of 1 thousand T-72 tanks (the contract was completed in 2011) ^{[ 6]} .

In 2007, contracts were signed for the sale of Syria's Bastion-P coastal anti-ship missile systems with Yakhont missiles (deliveries were carried out in 2010-2011), Buk air defense systems (at least 6 out of 8 ordered divisions were delivered) and fighters MiG-31E. In the same year, a contract was signed for the repair of 25 Mi-25 helicopters (completed in 2012) and the supply of simulators for training pilots of the Mi-17Mi-35 helicopters (completed in 2011) ^[6] .

The reports of Western analysts reported that by June 2008 there were a large number of Russian military personnel, advisers and specialists in operation and repair in Syria - in this way Moscow had increased its capabilities in Syria and regained the status quo that existed under the USSR ^{[7] [7 ]}

In August 2008, President Bashar Assad supported the actions of Russian troops in South Ossetia . The Syrian leader assured that Damascus is ready to cooperate with Russia in everything that can strengthen its security ^[9] .

In 2010, an agreement was signed on the supply to Syria of four (according to other sources, six divisions) S-300 air defense systems. In September 2015, the Kommersant newspaper, citing sources in the field of military-technical cooperation with foreign countries, reported that instead of delivering the S-300, a consignment of BTR-82A armored personnel carriers, Ural military trucks, small arms, grenade launchers and other weapons ^[6] .

In 1994, a Protocol was signed on the development of trade, economic and technical cooperation, in accordance with which a permanent Russian-Syrian commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation was created. In February 1998, the first meeting of the Commission was held in Damascus, at which the main areas of cooperation were identified - energy, transport, oil and gas, irrigation, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. In May 2001, in Moscow, during the Second IGC meeting, the parties agreed on joint actions to develop cooperation both in traditional fields and in the fields of industry, geology and natural resources, the peaceful uses of atomic energy, scientific and technical cooperation, healthcare, and interbank relations .

Russian companies and organizations are interested in cooperating with Syria mainly in the oil and gas sector. Based on the results of the tenders, the contracts were signed by the companies: Tatneft (March 2005), Soyuzneftegaz CJSC (2005), Stroytransgaz OJSC (December 2005).

In September 2004, a bilateral Russian-Syrian Business Council (RSDS) was created in Damascus under the auspices of the Russian-Arab Business Council. On the Russian side, the Council is headed by the Director General of the Pipe Metallurgical Company, D. A. Pumpyansky, on the Syrian side, by the Vice President of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Syria, the President of the Chamber of Commerce of Aleppo , MP S. Mullah.

In 2005, trade amounted to $ 459.8 million . .

In the same year, according to the results of the Third meeting of the IPC, a protocol was agreed in Damascus, in which, along with the intention of the parties to deepen cooperation, a number of projects of priority interest to Russian subjects of foreign economic activity were identified. As part of the meeting, a Cooperation Agreement was signed between Vneshtorgbank and the Central Bank of Syria, opening up the possibility of the Syrian side accepting guarantees from a Russian bank to ensure the participation of our organizations in implementing development projects on the territory of the UAR.

At the fourth meeting of the IGC, which was held in March 2006 in Moscow, the parties positively assessed the agreements reached between the leaders of the two countries and the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Settlement of Debt of the Syrian Arab Republic to the Russian Federation on loans granted to the former USSR, which creates new favorable opportunities for development cooperation.

Participants in the Fifth IGC Meeting, held in Damascus in April 2007, stated that Russian-Syrian relations were undergoing a stage of positive development. ^[10]

In 2010, contacts intensified on the integration of Syria into the EurAsEC Customs Union .

In May of that year, Syrian Finance Minister Mohammed al Jleilati reaffirmed Syria’s intention to continue treaties on the creation of a free trade zone with Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. ^[11] .

On August 3, Syrian Finance Minister Mohammed Jleylyati said that Russia had promised to consider granting a loan to Syria ^[12] .

On December 13-14, 2018, a regular meeting of the intergovernmental commission took place within the framework of cooperation between Russia and Syria in the military and military-technical field. During the meeting, 30 projects were included in the roadmap of the agreement on industrial and trade cooperation between the two countries. Among them is the construction of an airport in Tartus ^[13] .

Since 1995, a cultural relations program has been in place at the intergovernmental level ^[14] .

Since 1980, an agreement on friendship and cooperation was concluded between the SAR and the USSR. There are Russian-Syrian families ^[15] . The rest of a group of Syrian children was organized by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. As of 2012, 40,000 graduates of Soviet and Russian universities lived in Syria ^[14] . In 2011, more than 100 thousand citizens of the Russian Federation lived in Syria ^{[16] [ neutrality? ]} .

• Syrian Civil War
• Russian military operation in Syria

• Kreutz A. Russia in Syria: Previous History and Present Concerns: [ eng. ] . - Algora Publishing, 2017 .-- ISBN 978-1-62894-256-9 .

• “From Assad to Assad” - a review article on the history of Soviet-Syrian and Russian-Syrian relations