MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/. Foreign Ministers of Russia and Syria Sergey Lavrov and Faisal Mekdad have exchanged telegrams on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The ministers stressed the commitment of Moscow and Damascus to close coordination on the global and regional agenda, the Russian diplomatic service said in a statement.

"The heads of the foreign ministries noted that the multifaceted Russian-Syrian relations, based on feelings of mutual sympathy, friendship and mutual respect, are successfully developing. Moscow and Damascus are firmly committed to further strengthening bilateral cooperation in various fields and maintaining close foreign policy coordination on pressing issues of the global and regional agenda," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Diplomatic relations between the USSR and Syria were established on July 21, 1944.