ANKARA 

Ukraine on Thursday cut diplomatic relations with Syria as the latter recognized the self-proclaimed independence of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions. 

“There is no doubt that the Syrian regime is trying to give pseudo-subjectivity to the Russian occupying administrations in Donetsk and Luhansk at the behest of its Kremlin curators,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry condemned the decision as an “unfriendly act against Ukraine, an encroachment on the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Ukraine, and a gross violation of Ukrainian law, the UN Charter, and the fundamental norms and principles of international law.

“In response to this unfriendly act, Ukraine declares the severance of diplomatic relations with Syria without the severance of consular relations, in accordance with Article 2 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations done in Vienna on April 24, 1963,” it added.

The Ukrainian side is also initiating the procedure of imposing a trade embargo on Syria, as well as imposing other sanctions on Syrian legal entities and individuals, it added.

“Our position is clear. We respond as harshly as possible to any attempts to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and we protect national interests by all available means, including on the diplomatic front,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba emphasized.

In 2016, Ukraine closed its embassy in Damascus in connection with the crimes of the Bashar al-Assad regime against the Syrian people and ordered the closing of the Syrian Embassy in Ukraine in 2018.

More than 4,700 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the war with Russia started on Feb. 24.

Over 14 million people have been forced to flee their homes, including more than 7.7 million that have fled to other countries, according to UN figures.