Syria announced Wednesday that it was severing ties with Ukraine in support of its close ally Russia, saying the move was a response to a similar move by Kyiv, AFP reported.

"The Syrian Arab Republic has decided to break diplomatic relations with Ukraine in conformity with the principle of reciprocity and in response to the decision of the Ukrainian government," a foreign ministry official, who was not identified, told the Syrian state news agency SANA.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had already announced he was severing ties with Syria late last month after Syria recognized the Russian-backed breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.

Syria was the first country apart from Russia to recognize their independence.

The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had already recognized two other Russian-sponsored breakaway republics in 2018. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are internationally seen as part of Georgia, but Russia and a handful of other countries recognize their independence.