Assad: Steadfastness of independent states can restore balance to international arena

AVA- Speaking in a meeting with the visiting North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho in Damascus on Tuesday, the Syrian leader said that despite the difference in the forms of wars and pressure to which Syria and North Korea have been exposed, their essence and purpose is the same: to weaken the countries that have an independent goal and stand in the face of Western projects.
President Assad further said such wars are not just about Syria and North Korea, but for redrawing the map of the world, adding that the US hostility towards all the independent states of the world, including Syria and the North, knows no geographical limits.
Ri, for his part, relayed to the Syrian president and people a verbal message from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, expressing Pyongyang’s firm support for Damascus and offering congratulations over the victories the Syrian army has so far achieved in its years-long fight against terrorists, including the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group.  
The North Korean foreign minister also briefed the Syrian president about the North’s foreign policy, noting that the enemy which North Korea, Syria, and all other independent and independence-seeking countries have in common is hegemony and foreign interference, which requires increasing coordination among those countries to confront foreign plots.
The pair also touched upon the historical friendship and relations between the two countries, stressing that both Damascus and Pyongyang are resolute to enhance them. They also affirmed the need to maintain coordination in international circles to confront challenges and unjust sanctions.