(AFP) – Aug 19, 2008

MOSCOW (AFP) — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will visit Russia on Wednesday at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, the Kremlin said Tuesday.

"On August 20-21, 2008, the president of the Syrian Arab Republic, Bashar al-Assad, will make a working visit to Russia at the invitation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev," the Kremlin said in a statement.

The Kremlin provided no further details on the agenda for the visit.

It was announced however as Russia faced mounting international pressure to pull its forces out of Georgia and as Moscow signalled it was in no rush to do so.

Assad visited Moscow in December 2006, when he said that, as an influential power in the Middle East, Syria was open to dialogue with the United States but would not take "instructions" from Washington.

Russia's conflict with Georgia has also turned into a standoff between Moscow and Washington. The United States has strongly supported Georgia and also backs Syrian adversary Israel in the Middle East.

In remarks to soldiers near the conflict zone on Monday, Medvedev warned that no one should have any "illusion" about Russia's determination to ensure security in the Caucasus region and to protect its own citizens anywhere.

Last year, Russian media reported that Moscow had delivered MiG-31 fighter planes and modern air defence systems to Syria, angering Israel.

Damascus is a Soviet-era ally of Moscow, which maintained a naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus starting in the 1970s. The Russian media has speculated in recent years that Moscow is hoping to revive the base.

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »