Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa congratulated the newly elected president of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Al-Sharaa conveyed his congratulations in a telephone conversation with Aoun. During the conversation, the two leaders also confirmed their desire to work to build and strengthen positive relations between Syria and Lebanon, Agence France-Presse added.
Aoun was elected in a parliamentary vote on January 9, ending more than two years of paralysis in power in Lebanon.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati was in Damascus on Friday and met with Ahmed al-Sharaa, Agence France-Presse reported.
The two reaffirmed the commitment of their two countries to build lasting strategic ties after years of contradictory relations.
This was the first visit by a Lebanese prime minister to Syria since the start of the civil war there in 2011.
"There will be lasting strategic relations, with great common interests," al-Sharaa told Mikati, expressing hope that the election of Joseph Aoun as president of Lebanon would lead to political stability in that country.
Ash Sharaa called for forgetting the spirit of past relations between the two countries and giving the two peoples a chance to establish positive ties based on respect and sovereignty between the two countries.
"We will try to resolve all problems through consultations and dialogue," he said.
Mikati stressed that new relations between the two countries must be based on mutual respect, equality and national sovereignty.
"Syria is Lebanon's natural gateway to the Arab world, and as long as it is well, Lebanon will be well," he added.
Syria was the dominant political and military power in Lebanon for three decades, where it intervened during the Lebanese civil war from 1975 to 1990 and where many assassinations of politicians have been attributed to it.
Syria withdrew its military from Lebanon in 2005. under pressure from Lebanon and the international community after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Tensions between the two countries also arose due to the support provided by the Lebanese movement "Hezbollah" of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian civil war.
During the meeting with Ash Sharaa, Mikati stressed that the return of Syrian refugees from Lebanon to Syria is an urgent issue for both countries and said that he sensed Ash Sharaa's desire to resolve this issue.
Mikati also said that the delimitation of the land and sea borders between the two countries is a priority and announced a project for a joint commission on this issue in parallel with efforts to combat border smuggling.
He also insisted on the need to strengthen mutual security measures to protect both countries.
Ash Sharaa, for his part, stressed that his government's priority is the internal situation and maintaining order.
Syria, which shares a 300-kilometer border with Lebanon, has repeatedly refused to delimit it, thus turning it into an area easily accessible to smugglers.
Since Assad's fall from power in Syria, foreign delegations have lined up in Damascus to meet with de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa.