Kyiv (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Ukrainian President Zelenskyy announced preparations to resume diplomatic relations with Syria after a visit by high-level Ukrainian officials to Damascus.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated he was preparing to re-establish diplomatic connections with Syria. Zelenskiy expressed this after a visit to Syria by his Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, and by Agriculture Minister Vitaliy Koval, who disclosed earlier Ukraine had already shipped food aid.
We are preparing to resume diplomatic relations with Syria and cooperation in international organisations,
Zelenskiy stated.
On 30 December 2024, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha visits Damascus as part of a high-level delegation, one of the first since the fall of Assad’s regime, reportedly to discuss the full revival of diplomatic relations. The delegation reportedly met with Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of the new Syrian administration, as well as other key figures.
How is Ukraine supporting Syria through food aid programs?
Ukraine is also ready to boost trade with Lebanon and at least double its agriculture exports from $400 million, Zelenskiy said. Zelenskiy previously stated that Ukraine would ship 500 metric tons of wheat flour to Syria under Kyiv’s humanitarian “Grain from Ukraine” initiative in collaboration with the U.N. World Food Programme.
The shipment would provide resources for about 167,000 Syrians for a month, Koval stated in a televised interview. He said that the shipment would not be the last and that Syria was also interested in sugar, oil, and meat deliveries.
Today, at the level of government dialogue, we clearly understand that support should be sustainable and not a one-off but rather long-lasting and predictable,
Koval stated.
How did Syria and Ukraine’s relations break in 2022?
On June 29, 2022, Ukraine severed diplomatic ties with Syria after the Syrian government recognized the independence of the Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared that there would be no further relations between Ukraine and Syria and indicated that sanctions against Syria would intensify as a result of this recognition.
