Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov (R, front) arrives at Damascus international airport in Damascus, capital of Syria, on Sept. 6, 2020. A senior Russian delegation headed by Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov arrived in the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday evening to hold talks with top Syrian officials, according to state news agency SANA. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

Damascus and a Russian delegation Monday discussed economic cooperation to help counter Western sanctions on Syria, during Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's first visit to the war-torn country since 2012.

Russia has been a key ally of the Damascus government since the start of the country's war in 2011, providing critical military backing and signing several major economic deals.

Meeting a Russian delegation headed by Lavrov, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said "the Syrian government was determined to continue working with Russian partners," to implement signed agreements and encourage the "success of Russian investments in Syria," the presidency said.

They discussed possible new agreements "in the interest of both countries and to alleviate the impact of a policy of sanctions" by Western countries against government-held areas of Syria, it added in a statement.

The Russian visit comes as Damascus struggles to redress a war-battered economy, further hindered by Western sanctions including under the US Caesar Act, which was implemented since mid-June.

Damascus and Moscow have signed several deals in recent years in energy, construction and agriculture.

They include one for Russian firm Stroytransgaz to take over Syria's largest port of Tartous for 49 years.

Another deal awarded the same company a 50-year concession to extract phosphate in the central region of Palmyra.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov told reporters that a new economic and trade deal was in the works, which he hoped could be signed during another trip to Syria in December.

The proposed accord, now under review by Damascus, includes around 40 projects, Borisov said, including the rehabilitation of power plants and hydrocarbon exploration in Syrian waters in the Mediterranean.

"Syria's economic isolation" with Western sanctions was hampering foreign investment, Borisov said.

"It's an economic blockade that we are trying to break through our common efforts," he added.

AFP