Azerbaijan has announced plans to export natural gas to Syria to help alleviate the country's severe energy crisis.

The decision was confirmed during a meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Baku on Saturday.

Syria, now led by Islamist authorities who ousted Bashar al-Assad in December, is working to rebuild its infrastructure after nearly 14 years of civil war that devastated the nation’s power grid. Some areas in Syria still experience power cuts lasting more than 20 hours a day.

According to a statement from the Azerbaijani presidency, the two leaders emphasized energy cooperation, with a project underway to export Azerbaijani gas to Syria via Turkiye shortly.

In May, Syrian Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir had also announced a separate deal with Ankara for the supply of Turkish natural gas through a northern pipeline.

Azerbaijan, a gas-rich nation and a close ally of Turkiye, has pledged support to Syria's transitional government as it works to stabilize the country’s energy sector.