BEIRUT, April 21. /TASS/. The West imposed unilateral sanctions on a number of countries, including Russia and Syria, to impoverish them and keep them under control, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said.

"The system of unilateral coercive sanctions, imposed by Western countries against a number of nations worldwide, including Syria and the Russian Federation, is aimed at stealing a nation’s potential, impoverish them and keep them under their hegemony," the SANA news agency quoted the top Syrian diplomat during a meeting with Rector of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yakovenko in Damascus on Thursday.

The participants of the meeting discussed various problems and events on the global and regional arena.

They also agreed to step up cooperation and sharing of best practices between the diplomatic institutes of the foreign ministries of Syria and Russia.