Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad vowed his country "will cooperate"  with the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LNR), according to Al Jazeera, citing state media. 

Damascus was among the first foreign allied governments of Russia to reportedly be briefed on Moscow's intentions in eastern Ukraine, according to Russian media. 

Speaking of Assad, a top Russian politician responsible for communications with its Syrian ally had this to say: "He said that Syria would be ready to recognize them the way it had recognized [breakaway Georgian regions of] South Ossetia and Abkhazia" after the 2008 Russian-Georgian war, Sablin told the RIA Novosti news agency."

With the 'recognition' of the Russian change in status for Ukraine's DPR and LNR, Syria is not only hitting back at the US over the years-long push for regime change via proxy war, but is also repaying its loyalty following Russia's 2015 intervention in Syria at Damascus' request. Russia's military, especially its air power, decisively turned the tide of the war in favor of pro-Assad forces.