Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday that Syria and Russia boosted cooperation during his visit to the country. He also shed light on rapprochement with Turkey and expressed an openness to Russia deepening its military presence in Syria. 

Assad flew to Moscow on Tuesday and held talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday. He gave a lengthy interview to Russian state-owned news outlet Sputnik after the meeting, which was published on Thursday. 

In the interview, Assad said that the Russian and Syrian entities will sign agreements pertaining to 40 “specific investment projects” related to energy, electricity, oil, transport, housing, industry and other sectors. The agreements were discussed during a Russia-Syria joint commission meeting that occurred during the visit and will be signed within weeks, according to him.

“Joint Russian-Syrian commissions have held meetings several times, but their results have not been what we had been striving for,” Assad told Sputnik. “This time, the meeting of the joint commission was different.”