Syria's President and one of the United Arab Emirates' most powerful leaders spoke on the phone on Friday signalling a major thaw in Damascus' troubled relations with Arab countries, which had mostly boycotted President Bashar Assad and backed his opposition.
The official Emirati news agency said Assad and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan discussed efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak and reviewed preventive measures to fight it.
Sheikh Mohammed, believed to be the Emirates' day-to-day ruler, said Syria and the UAE need to "place the humanitarian solidarity over political issues during this common challenge 'we are all facing'," according to the report.
The crown prince of the oil-rich Abu Dhabi affirmed that Syria "will not be left alone during these delicate and critical circumstances."