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Sanctions aimed at impoverishing countries, keeping them under control: Syrian FM

Saturday, 22 April 2023 4:26 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 22 April 2023 4:52 PM ]

Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Faisal Mekdad (Photo via Twitter)

Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Faisal Mekdad has slammed unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States and its Western allies against his war-torn Arab nation and a number of other countries, stating that the coercive measures are meant to impoverish the targeted states and exert control over them.

“The regime of unilateral coercive sanctions, slapped by Western countries against a number of world countries, including Syria and Russia, is aimed at stealing those nations’ assets, depriving them [of their natural resources] and keeping them under their hegemony,” Mekdad told visiting Rector of the Diplomatic Academy at the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Yakovenko in Damascus.

The two sides then exchanged viewpoints on various regional and international developments, and explored avenues on how to resolve existing crises.

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They also agreed to further promote bilateral cooperation and interaction between the diplomatic institutes of their respective countries in various fields, such as the exchange of faculty members, students and researchers.

Syria has been a target of US sanctions since 1979. Washington and its Western allies have dramatically tightened their economic sanctions and restrictions on Damascus after 2011, when the Arab country found itself in the grip of rampant foreign-backed militancy and terrorism.

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The US coercive measures intensified even further with the passing of the Caesar Act in 2019, which targeted any individual and business that participated either directly or indirectly in Syria's reconstruction efforts.

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