The message said, in part:
“The people of Russia have great respect for our friend, Syria. For many decades our countries have cooperated closely in the political, economic, military-technical and cultural fields. The relations of trust established between your father and many generations of leaders of our country have made a considerable, in fact, decisive, contribution to the nature of Russian-Syrian relations.”
Mr Putin expressed hope that the two countries’ tradition of understanding would lay a firm foundation for building cooperation between Russia and Syria in the new stage of their modern history.