Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday sent a congratulatory message to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria on the latter’s National Day.

“The Armenian and Syrian peoples are bound by deep-rooted historical ties and feelings of friendship, which provide a strong basis for cooperation and development of relations between our two countries.

I reaffirm our willingness to provide continued assistance in solving your humanitarian problems and promote the traditional dialogue to the benefit of our countries and peoples,” PM Pashinyan’s congratulatory message says in part.