President Bashar Al-Assad on Monday received a telephone call from the President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro who affirmed his country’s solidarity with Syria over the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the country. 

President Maduro assured the Syrian President that Venezuela will continue to aid Syria, as he expressed Venezuela’s readiness to offer aid to the Syrian Arab Republic to overcome the impacts of the quake.

Syrian-Venezuelan relations have bloomed over the past couple of decades, ever since the rule of late President Chavez, both countries have shown solidarity whether in the face of US sanctions or other misfortunes.

Maduro has previously mentioned that the relationship between both countries "reflects on the common friendship and mutual admiration between the peoples of Venezuela and Syria."

Read more: Maduro to visit Syria soon, Venezuela will take part in reconstruction

President al-Assad, for his part, thanked the Venezuelan president and mentioned that the rescue teams and the relief aid sent by Venezuela and several Arab and foreign countries to Syria had a great impact in supporting the Syrian Government’s efforts to overcome the ordeal, adding these efforts were highly appreciated by the Syrian people, who've suffered a great deal. 

Not all countries sent aid to Syria due to the US sanctions, others, however, sent immediate aid planes to Syria. Despite the US placing a temporary sanctions waiver, the only Western country to offer assistance to Syria was Italy.

Read more: More than 30 flights in 3 days; which countries sent aid to Syria?