DAMASCUS (AFP) — New Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa held talks on Monday with Ukraine’s foreign minister, the official news agency SANA reported, weeks after Russian-allied president Bashar al-Assad was ousted from power.

Moscow was one of Assad’s key backers — intervening to help to turn the tide of Syria’s civil war in his favor in 2015 — and his toppling was seen as a major setback for Russia, which in 2022 launched an invasion of Ukraine.

“The leader of the new administration Ahmed al-Sharaa met with a Ukrainian delegation headed by Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga,” SANA reported, without providing further details.

On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country had sent its first shipment of food aid, 500 tons of wheat flour, to Syria.

Despite the war, Ukraine is one of the world’s top wheat producers.

Rebels led by Sharaa’s Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched an offensive on 27 November that saw them take a number of key cities in quick succession before seizing the capital Damascus 11 days later, sending Assad fleeing to Russia.

But despite Moscow’s backing for Assad, Sharaa on Sunday noted the “deep strategic interests between Russia and Syria” in an interview with the Al-Arabiya TV channel.

“All Syria’s arms are of Russian origin, and many power plants are managed by Russian experts... We do not want Russia to leave Syria in the way that some wish,” Sharaa added.