MOSCOW (AP) — Syria’s interim leader arrived in Moscow on Wednesday for his second visit in less than four months, with talks expected to focus on the future of Russian military bases in the country.
Interim President Ahmed Salat visited Russia for the first time in October. In December 2024, he led a swift rebel offensive that toppled former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Assad’s government has been backed by Moscow for years as it fights a devastating civil war.
Russia has been focused on the fighting in Ukraine in recent years and has maintained only a small military contingent in Syria and has not tried to counter the rebel offensive. It provided asylum to Assad and his family after he fled the country.
Despite maintaining a contrary stance during the civil war, the interim government in Damascus has expressed a willingness to develop ties with Moscow, apparently hoping it would help rebuild the war-torn country and provide a way to diversify its foreign policy.
It is vital for the Kremlin to retain its naval and air bases on the Syrian coast, the only such outposts outside the former Soviet Union and crucial to maintaining Russia’s military presence in the Mediterranean. Russian authorities have said they hope to negotiate a deal that would retain the Khmeimim air base and the Tartus naval outpost.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said ahead of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Shara’a that “all issues related to the presence of our troops in Syria will be discussed during the talks.”
In recent days, Russian troops have begun withdrawing from positions in northeastern Syria, an area still controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which has lost much of its territory to a government offensive.
