BEIRUT, July 21. /TASS/. Russia and Syria are committed to their principles, despite the external pressure, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a telegram to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on the 80th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"President Assad stressed that both countries have exchanged support for 80 years and remained committed to principles and dignity despite being subjected to all forms of pressure and attempts to break their will," the SANA news agency said.

On behalf of the Syrian people and his own behalf, the Syrian president offered sincere congratulations to the Russian people and wished it every success in the future. He also expressed hope that the relations between the two countries will continue developing.

He stressed that Russia’s position in based on the principles and values of the respect to other countries’ sovereignty. Thanks to Russia, the world is becoming multipolar, he added.

Diplomatic relations between the former Soviet Union and Syria were established on July 21, 1944. The two countries signed the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in 1980. In 1991, Syria recognized Russia as a successor to the Soviet Union.

Relations between Russia and Syria downgraded considerably after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, but in the late 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s relations between the two countries invigorated. In 1999, Syrian leader Hafez Assad paid an official visit to Russia and his son Bashar Assad, who became Syria’s president in 2000, paid a state visit to Moscow in January 2005. His talks with Putin yielded a joint declaration on the further development of relations of friendship and cooperation between Russia and Syria. The first-ever visit to Syria by a Russian head of state (including the Soviet era) was paid by Dmitry Medvedev, the then Russian president, in May 2010. Putin visited Syria in the capacity of the Russian head of state in 2017 and 2020.