Sochi, Russia- (SANA)- The Syrian-Russian summit talks between President Bashar al-Assad and  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev started in the Russian city of Sochi on Thursday.

At the beginning of the meeting, President al-Assad expressed pleasure over visiting Federal Russia and his first meeting with President Medvedev, conveying the greetings of the Syrian people to Medvedev for winning the confidence of the Russian people.

President al-Assad said "we in Syria are totally keen on the historical and strategic relations between our two countries which have always worked for security and peace in the world."

The President pointed out that the Syrian-Russian relations have been steadily developing, particularly over the past few years, indicating that today's meeting would provide an opportunity to discuss the agreements signed in the past, activating them and going ahead with them.

President al-Assad added that "there is a lot of issues to be discussed in today's meeting, especially the situation in the Middle East and the recent crisis in the Caucus." His Excellency pointed out to the similarity between these two issues as the two regions enjoy strategic importance on the world level.

His Excellency renewed Syria's support to the Russian stance in the latest events regarding South Ossetia and Abkhazia, saying that "we understand the Russian stance and the Russian military response as a result of the provocations which took place. We appreciate the courageous decision taken by the Russian leadership in responding to the international initiatives and the start of withdrawing its forces."

President al-Assad stressed rejection of the double-standard criteria and attempts to distort the facts to portray Russia as an aggressor country. He pointed out that he would discuss with President Medvedev the peace process and the indirect negotiations which began recently between Syria and Israel under Turkish mediation, saying that "Russia has always been a sponsor to this process…we'll discuss the active role which Russia can play in this regard."

For his part, President Medvedev welcomed President al-Assad in Sochi, expressing pleasure over meeting His Excellency President al-Assad in person, pointing out that the agenda of talks between them has different topics.

President Medvedev added that the relations between Syria and Russia has been developing in an accelerating way, particularly in the economic and trade field as the volume of trade exchange has doubles over the first five months of this year.

The Russian President stressed that the Syrian-Russian relations paly a pivotal role in several international issues, expressing gratitude to Syria for its supportive stance towards Russia during the recent aggression launched by Georgia on South Ossetia.

President Medvedev said "we can discuss all the issues of interest for the Syrian-Russian dialogue which is developing well and in a dynamic way."

President al-Assad's visit to Russia is the third as he had already visited the country twice in January 2005 and in December 2006 where he held talks with former President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials and focused on enhancing the friendship and cooperation relations between Syria and Russia in different fields.

Ahmad Fathi ZAHRA