Syrian President Sharaa to Meet Putin as Russia Seeks Security for Military Bases
MOSCOW, Jan 28: Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday as the Kremlin aims to secure the future of its military bases in Syria.
The upcoming meeting follows a conciliatory tone set during their first encounter in October, after Sharaa’s rebel forces toppled Moscow-backed Bashar Assad in 2024. However, Russia’s continued protection of Assad and his wife remains a contentious issue, with Sharaa repeatedly demanding their extradition.
Meanwhile, Sharaa has strengthened ties with U.S. President Donald Trump, who on Tuesday described the Syrian leader as “highly respected” and said that relations were “working out very well.”
Putin, whose influence in the Middle East has declined since Assad’s removal, is seeking to maintain Russia’s military footprint in the region. Earlier this week, Russia withdrew from Qamishli airport in Kurdish-held northeastern Syria, leaving only the Hmeimim air base and Tartus naval base along the Mediterranean coast as its sole military outposts outside the former Soviet Union.
According to the Kremlin, the Moscow meeting will address “the status of bilateral relations and prospects for developing them in various fields, as well as the current situation in the Middle East.”
Russia had been a key ally of Assad during Syria’s 14-year civil war, launching air strikes against rebel-held areas controlled by Sharaa’s Islamist forces. Assad’s ouster dealt a major blow to Russia’s regional influence, highlighting the limits of Moscow’s military reach amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The United States, which supported Assad’s removal, has fostered closer ties with Sharaa even as Damascus launched a recent offensive against Kurdish forces long backed by the West. Despite Trump’s praise, both U.S. and European officials have expressed concern that the northeast Syria offensive could enable Islamic State prisoners held in Kurdish-run facilities to regain strength.