Caracas, February 1st 2017 (venezuelanalysis.com) - Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry released an official statement Tuesday congratulating the Syrian government on its recent military triumphs over armed groups attempting to destabilize the Arab Republic.

The formal communiqué was made public following a telephone conversation between Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Syrian Head of State Bashar Al Assad on Monday.

“President Nicolas Maduro wishes success for the Syrian Arab Republic this new year, when both peoples have made advances in spite of the imperial aggression against our countries,” reads the statement.

“The heroic achievements of the Syrian people in the struggle against terrorism and against the most vile and cruel forms of warfare are admirable before the eyes of the world,” it continues.

The Syrian regime has been at war with foreign-backed rebel groups seeking to depose Assad by force since 2011. Earlier in December last year the Syrian military won a key battle to retake control over the country's largest city of Aleppo from jihadist organisations. Venezuela has consistently called for a peaceful solution to the conflict and vehemently criticized Western governments for pushing for a NATO-backed no-fly zone.

In Tuesday’s statement, Maduro compared Syria’s ongoing civil war to Venezuela’s resistance to US imperialism and confirmed that the Arab Republic “has had and will have Venezuela’s firm support in the international arena, in defense of the independence, union and unity of Syrian territory”.

“Syria and Venezuela’s struggle is for sovereignty, independence, respect for the principles of non-intervention in foreign affairs, and the free self-determination of peoples. In short, for the right to the very existence of our nations,” continues the declaration.

According to the communiqué Assad personally thanked Maduro for Venezuela’s ongoing solidarity with the Syrian people.