Syria announced Wednesday that it was severing ties with Ukraine, saying the move was a response to a similar move by Kyiv.

“The Syrian Arab Republic has decided to break diplomatic relations with Ukraine in conformity with the principle of reciprocity and in response to the decision of the Ukrainian government,” a foreign ministry official, who was not identified, told the state news agency SANA.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky already announced he was severing ties with Syria late last month after Syria recognized the Russian-backed breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine.

“There will no longer be relations between Ukraine and Syria,” Zelensky said at the time.

The breakaway states of Donetsk and Lugansk, whose independence Moscow recognized in February, are situated in the Donbas region at the center of Russia’s operation in Ukraine which was launched on February 24.

Source: AFP