(MENAFN) Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad in a new year's greeting that Russia will continue supporting Syria's efforts to defend its sovereignty, the Kremlin said on Saturday.

Earlier, Putin instructed the Russian forces in Syria to start withdrawing from the country, however, he said Russia would keep its Hmeymim air base in Syria's Latakia Province as well as its naval facility at Tartous "on a permanent basis."

Russia first launched air strikes in Syria in September 2015 in its biggest Middle East intervention in decades; this interference turned the conflict into Assad favor.

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