Abkhazia and Syria are working on the possible visit of Syrian President Bashar Assad to the partially recognized republic at the level of the two countries' embassies, but no specific dates have been fixed yet, Abkhazian Foreign Minister Daur Kove told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st April, 2019) Abkhazia and Syria are working on the possible visit of Syrian President Bashar Assad to the partially recognized republic at the level of the two countries' embassies, but no specific dates have been fixed yet, Abkhazian Foreign Minister Daur Kove told Sputnik.
Assad was invited to travel to the republic during the visit of Abkhazian President Raul Khadzhimba to Syria last fall. Last December, Khadzhimba expressed confidence that the Syrian leader would accept the invitation to visit Sukhum.
"We are waiting for the date of his visit to be determined ... We are working on this issue though our embassies. When Assad makes the decision [to visit Sukhum], we will be ready to welcome him at any time that will be convenient [for the Syrian leader]," Kove said in an interview.
In May 2018, Syria officially recognized the breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which declared their independence from Georgia in the 1990s but are still considered by Tbilisi a part of Georgia.
Later that same year, Abkhazian and Syrian parliaments ratified the Friendship and Cooperation Treaty, signed by the two countries in Damascus during Khadzhimba's visit. The two states have also agreed on the establishment of a joint committee on cooperation in economy, trade, science, art and culture; and on the facilitation and development of trade cooperation.
