Ukraine condemns Syria's recognition of DPR, LPR's independence, calls it 'unfriendly act'

After severing diplomatic ties with Damascus for its formal recognition of the pro-Russia separatist-controlled Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic as 'independent', Ukraine on Thursday declared Syria's decision to be "an unfriendly act" against its regime. The Ministry of Foreing Affairs of Ukraine "strongly condemned'' Syrian Arab Republic for becoming the first nation in the world to affirm Ukraine's breakaway territories' independence. 

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly condemns the decision of the Syrian Arab Republic to recognize the so-called 'independence' of the temporarily occupied territories in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine,” Ukraine asserted in a statement on Thursday. “We consider this decision to be an unfriendly act against Ukraine, an encroachment on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state, and a gross violation of Ukrainian law, the UN Charter, and the fundamental norms and principles of international law," it added.

Syria recognised 'independence and sovereignty' of Donetsk, Luhansk

Moscow's staunch ally Syria on Wednesday, June 29 formally recognised the "independence and sovereignty" of Ukraine's two eastern breakaway separatist republics occupied by Russia's troops. Moscow had declared the independence of the breakaway oblasts of Donetsk and Lugansk back in the month of February, ahead of launching an all out invasion of Ukraine.

The territories, situated in the contentious eastern Donbass region, have been under Russian control since 2014 following the annexation of Crimea. Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting  against Ukraine's Army in the southeastern Ukrainian regions known as Donbass for almost eight years. As Russia launched military intervention, its troops in the rebel-controlled areas occupied about a third of Donetsk and Luhansk.

"The Syrian Arab Republic has decided to recognize the independence and sovereignty of both the Lugansk People's Republic and the Donetsk People's Republic,” Syria's foreign ministry told the official SANA news agency. “We will communicate with both countries to agree on frameworks for strengthening relations, including establishing diplomatic relations in accordance with established rules," it added. 

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in a tone that echoed Russia's Putin Vladimir Putin, had also accused the United States of controlling the "terrorists and neo-Nazis", adding that Syria and its longtime ally Moscow are "fighting the same enemy." "The main and the biggest battle is being fought against the policy of [imposing its] hegemony, which is being implemented by the West," Bashar-al-Assad asserted.