July 1944: Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov expresses his country’s interest in opening a full-fledged embassy in Damascus.
June 1945: President Shukri Al Quwatli corresponds with Joseph Stalin, seeking Soviet support for Syria’s independence from French colonialism. Russia recognises Syria’s independence from the French Mandate and supports Syria’s bid at the United Nations.
May 1948: Syrian-Soviet relations hit rock bottom after Moscow supports the newly created State of Israel. The Soviet and American embassies in Damascus are attacked by angry demonstrators.
October 1956: Al Quwatli visits Moscow during the Suez Canal War and meets Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev at the Kremlin. He is the first Syrian leader to visit the USSR since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1944.
Late 1956: To boost Syria’s relations with the Eastern Bloc, Damascus conducts an arms deal with Czechoslovakia, and exchanges diplomatic relations with Communist China. It also signs trade agreements with Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary, and student exchange programmes with East Germany.
August 1957: Defence Minister Khalid Al Azm visits Moscow and signs a long-term and interest-free economic package with the Soviets, and is coined the ‘Red Millionaire’ in the Syrian press.
June 1967: Russia supports Damascus in the Six-Day War with Israel.
1971: Hafez Al Assad becomes president of Syria and the USSR opens its first naval base in the port city of Tartous, to support the Soviet Navy in the Mediterranean.
October 1973: The Soviet Union puts its full weight behind Syria during the third major Arab-Israeli war jointly launched by Syria and Egypt.
October 1980: Al Assad signs the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Damascus and Moscow.
October 5, 2011: The Russians use their veto power at the United Nations to block a resolution to sanction Bashar Al Assad’s government over its crackdown on civilians.
September 30, 2015: Start of Russian military operations in Syria.
October 21 2015: Al Assad visits Vladimir Putin in Moscow, making his first overseas journey since the outbreak of hostilities in 2011.
September 3, 2016: 600 Russian troops land in Syria to take part in an assault on Aleppo.
