In his congratulatory message, the president said that Russian diplomats have always resolutely and consistently defended the country's interests.
"Largely thanks to the efficient work of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the situation in Syria has stabilised to some extent and the intra-Syrian constitutional process has been launched. We have also achieved perceptible results in developing Eurasian integration and the Eurasian Economic Union's foreign contacts, as well as an alliance within the Collective Security Treaty Organisation", Putin said in his message, as quoted by the Kremlin.
Putin also praised the Russian Foreign Ministry for strengthening cooperation with China, India, Eurasia and Latin America, and taking the dialogue with Africa to a new level.
Russia is one of the guarantors of peace in Syria, which was torn apart by a civil war after the Arab Spring protests in 2011. Russian forces have performed numerous military strikes against jihadists, including the terrorist group Daesh*. Moscow also arranged a deal with Turkey and sent Russian military police to patrol the Syrian-Turkish border in order to prevent a conflict between Ankara and Damascus.
* Daesh (ISIL/ISIS/IS/Islamic State) is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia
