Russia Nears Deal With New Syria Leaders to Keep Army Bases

Russia is nearing an agreement with Syria’s new leadership to keep two vital military bases in the Middle East state, a key objective of the Kremlin after the fall of its ally Bashar al-Assad.

Talks are taking place for Russian forces to remain at the naval port in Tartus and the air base at Khmeimim, according to people with knowledge of the matter in Moscow, Europe and the Middle East, asking not to be identified because the issue is sensitive.

The Defense Ministry in Moscow believes it has an informal understanding with Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, or HTS, the former al-Qaeda offshoot that led the offensive to oust Assad, that it can stay at the Syrian bases, the person in Russia said. The situation could still change amid the instability in Syria, the person cautioned.

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Moscow has established contact with HTS in Damascus and hopes the group “will honor promises” to keep foreign diplomats safe, Russian state media cited Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov as saying. Russia plans to keep its bases in Syria as the fight against Islamic State, or ISIS, is not over, he said. 

“I assume that everyone agrees that the fight against terrorism and the remnants of ISIS is not over,” Bogdanov was reported as saying. “This requires collective effort and in this sense our presence and the Khmeimim base have been playing an important role.”

“The bases remain on Syrian territory, where they were,” Bogdanov added. “No other decisions have been made.”

It wasn’t immediately possible to verify the information with officials in the transitional government in Syria. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov didn’t immediately respond to a request to comment. 

Western officials with knowledge of the interactions said the international community has expressed an informal interest in maintaining the status quo when it came to the Russian bases for the time being, as they could act as a deterrent for any recurrence of extremism in the country. 

HTS has signalled to Russia it isn’t interested in hostilities because there are no obvious contenders to its power in the country, the Western officials added.

ISIS, designated a terrorist group by the US and other countries, took advantage of the early years of the Syrian civil war starting 2011 to conquer large swathes of territory in the east of the country and neighboring Iraq. The group was eventually beaten back toward the end of the last decade. 

Russia’s Tartus naval base is the country’s only hub on the Mediterranean Sea. The airfield is used to supply Russia’s security operations in Africa, allowing it to project political and economic influence and restore some of Moscow’s Cold War-era authority on the continent.

The collapse of the Assad regime rendered effectively worthless the 49-year leases for the bases gained by Russia in 2017, two years after Putin sent his military to bolster Assad’s forces and push back opposition fighters.

The Kremlin flew Assad and his family into exile in Russia over the weekend after convincing the Syrian leader he’d lost the war with rebel groups bearing down on the capital, Damascus. 

Russia Pushed Assad to Flee Syria After Concluding He’d Lost War

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