DAMASCUS (Dispatches) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that he hoped cooperation with Syria in the oil, gas and atomic energy sectors will be increased.

Medvedev and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad passed a joint statement on Tuesday, outlining the results of the mutual talks.
The two sides also signed a number of cooperation documents.
“Cooperation on atomic energy (with Syria) could get a second wind,” Medvedev said at a press conference with Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.
Medvedev gave no further details on what nuclear cooperation had been discussed.
Russian news agencies quoted Assad as saying that he had discussed with Medvedev the possibility of building power plants, including nuclear ones, in Syria.
Russian Itar-Tass news agency said the Russian Ministry of Communications and Mass Media signed an agreement on cooperation in the area of information technologies and communications with the Syrian Ministry of Communications and Technologies.
The ministers of transport of the two countries, Igor Levitin of Russia and Yaarub Bader of Syria, signed an intergovernmental agreement on air traffic.
The two sides also signed joint action for cooperation in the tourism sector during 2010-12. Also signed was an agreement between the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology and the Syrian Ministry of the Environment on cooperation in the area of environmental protection.
Russia says all nations have the right to peaceful nuclear power programs and is due this year to start up an atomic power station a Russian state company has built in Iran.
When speaking about Iran's nuclear program, Medvedev called for “constructive cooperation” with the international community on Iran's part.
Photo: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (R) talks to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (L) May 10, 2010 in Damascus, Syria. (Sana photo)
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