Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has reportedly called for official recognition of the Russian-backed separatist "republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as independent from Kiev.

According to the Telegram channel of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Assad met with DPR Foreign Minister Natalia Nikonorova and expressed support for Russia's war against the US and its NATO allies.

"The president of the Syrian Arab Republic noted the state's readiness to recognize the People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk," the DPR ministry said, reports

.

The group claimed that Assad announced "the official start of the recognition procedure and noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [Syrian Arab Republic] would immediately receive relevant instructions from him".

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a "special military operation" in Ukraine in February, just three days after he recognized the "independence" of separatist regions.

Although Assad backed Putin's invasion of Ukraine as a "correction of history" and a "rebalancing of the world" after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Syria was one of only five countries, including Russia, to oppose a UN General Assembly resolution condemning the illegal occupation of Moscow.