Leader of Russia-backed Crimea to visit Syria

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The leader of Crimea, annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, is to visit Syria on Monday, the pro-government newspaper al-Watan said. Russia-backed Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov will visit Damascus for two days. Russia is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's seven-year long conflict. The leaders of two other Russia-backed breakaway regions, Georgia's South Ossetia and Abkhazia, also visited Damascus this year. Crimea has been under Western sanctions since it was annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014. ...

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