MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/. Patriarch John X of Antioch and All East has sent a letter to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, in which he thanked the Russian Orthodox Church for the assistance to the Syrian people, the press service of the Department for External Church Relations reported on Thursday.

"First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the support the Russian Church has provided to the Church of Antioch and all Syrians over the past seven years. You sent several delegations to our home country to provide all kinds of assistance," the Patriarch of Antioch is quoted as saying.

He stressed that Syrians were grateful to the Russian Orthodox Church for the humanitarian aid delivered in February. "I want you to know that our Church will always be grateful for this act and confirm the effectiveness of joint efforts with particular satisfaction," the primate of the Church of Antioch stressed.

The sacrifices among the Russian military services "were made for the sake of rescuing Syria and preserving the honor and dignity of its citizens living on this historic and holy land, which has borne its testimony to Christ for more than 2,000 years now," the patriarch wrote.

"I attach great importance to your views and therefore I hope that the tradition of maintaining frequent and trust-based communication between our Churches will continue and will be based, as before, on the ideals and principles of particular value, because our ties are deeply rooted in history," he stressed in his letter.