Assad says Russia's Ukraine invasion a 'correction of history'

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in a telephone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday, praised the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying it was a "correction of history".

Damascus is a staunch ally of Moscow which intervened in the Syrian civil war in 2015 by launching air strikes to support the Assad regime's struggling forces.

"President Assad stressed that what is happening today is a correction of history and a restoration of balance in the global order after the fall of the Soviet Union," said a statement from the Syrian presidency.

Assad also said that "Syria stands with the Russian Federation based on its conviction that its position is correct and because confronting Nato expansionism is a right for Russia". 

During Friday's phone call, Assad said "Western nations bear responsibility for the chaos and bloodshed," accusing them of using "dirty methods to support terrorists in Syria and Nazis in Ukraine".