Syrian leader meets Putin, Russia eyes deal on military bases

admin — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 16:36:00 +0000

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, welcomes Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, centre, for talks during their meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, on January 28, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for talks in Moscow on Wednesday (January 28, 2026), as the Kremlin seeks to secure the future of military bases vital for its operations in West Asia.

Russia was a key ally of Mr. Sharaa’s predecessor Bashar al-Assad during the bloody 14-year Syrian civil war.

His toppling at the hands of Mr. Sharaa’s rebel forces dealt a major blow to Russia’s influence in the region and threw the status of its prized military bases in Syria into doubt.

Mr. Putin has been working to build relations with Mr. Sharaa since, though Russia’s continued sheltering of Assad and his wife in Moscow remains a major obstacle to improving ties.

“Much has been accomplished in terms of restoring our interstate relations,” Mr. Putin said in a televised meeting with Mr. Sharaa.

“We have closely monitored your efforts to restore Syria’s territorial integrity and I want to congratulate you on the momentum this process is gaining,” Mr. Putin said, apparently referring to Mr. Sharaa’s recent offensive against Kurdish forces in Syria’s northeast.

Mr. Sharaa, in his second meeting with Mr. Putin since coming to power, said Russia had a “historic role not only in Syria’s unity and stability, but in that of the entire region.”

Neither mentioned Russia’s military presence in Syria, though Mr. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier he had “no doubt” the issue would come up in their talks.

Russia has two remaining military outposts in the country, the Hmeimim airbase and Tartus naval base on Syria’s Mediterranean coast.

They are Russia’s only two official military bases outside the former Soviet Union.

The Kremlin withdrew its forces from the Qamishli airport in Kurdish-held northeast Syria earlier this week.

Syria has expressed a willingness to cooperate with Moscow, though has repeatedly demanded that Russia extradite Assad.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday (January 27, 2026) praised Mr. Sharaa as “highly respected” and said things there were “working out very well”.

Published – January 28, 2026 10:06 pm IST

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Russia, seeking to keep bases in Syria, says it held ‘frank’ talks with new leader

admin — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 22:17:55 +0000

Russian President Vladimir Putin.
| Photo Credit: AP

Russia said on Wednesday (January 29, 2025) it had held “frank” discussions with Syria’s new de facto leader as it tries to retain its two military bases in the country, but it declined to comment on what he was demanding in return.

A Syrian source familiar with the discussions said that the new leader, Mohammed al-Jolani (Ahmed al-Sharaa), had requested that Moscow hand over former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who fled to Russia when he was toppled by Jolani’s militant group in December.

Syrian news agency Sana said Damascus also wanted Russia, which backed Mr. Assad in the country’s civil war, to rebuild trust through “concrete measures such as compensation, reconstruction and recovery”.

Asked to confirm whether Russia had been asked to return Mr. Assad and pay compensation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment.

Russia, whose troops and air force backed Mr. Assad for years against Syrian rebels, is seeking to retain its naval base in Tartous and Hmeimim air base near the port city of Latakia. Losing them would deal a serious blow to its ability to project power in the region.

The new Syrian administration said after Tuesday’s talks with a Russian delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov that it had “stressed that restoring relations must address past mistakes, respect the will of the Syrian people and serve their interests”.

But the Syrian source told Reuters that the Russians had not been willing to concede such mistakes and the only agreement that was reached was to continue discussions.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said there had been a “frank discussion of the entire range of issues”. It said the two sides would pursue further contacts in order to seek “relevant agreements”, without referring specifically to the two bases.

Published – January 30, 2025 03:47 am IST

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russia syria ties – Artifex.News

Syrian leader meets Putin, Russia eyes deal on military bases

Russia, seeking to keep bases in Syria, says it held ‘frank’ talks with new leader