Putin and al-Sharaa discuss Russia-Syria relations, deal on military bases

Syria has been in talks on the fate of Khmeimim and Tartous bases, which Russia used to support ousted Assad regime.Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa have held discussions, including on the fate of Russia’s military bases in the Middle Eastern country.During a telephone call on Wednesday, Putin affirmed Moscow’s support for Syria’s territorial integrity and reiterated Russia’s rejection of Israeli attacks and violations of Syrian sovereignty, reports Syrian news agency SANA.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Syrian official says ‘no plans’ to establish Turkish military presencelist 2 of 3Syria’s foreign minister says door open for diplomacy with Israellist 3 of 3Syria says it reached deal with Moscow on future of Russian basesend of listThe Kremlin stressed that the discussion also concerned deepening political dialogue and cooperation in trade, among other areas.The talks were aimed at further development of bilateral relations and strengthened cooperation, SANA noted.However, the status of the Khmeimim airbase and Tartous Naval Base, which are highly strategic for Russia, remains the key topic between Damascus and Moscow.The Kremlin said that Russia-Syria-relations" class="entity-link entity-topic" data-entity-id="194026" data-entity-type="topic">Russia-Syria relations will continue through continued contact “at various levels” and that “both sides underscored the importance of the Memorandum of Understanding On the Reorganisation of the Khmeimim Air Base and the Tartus Material-Technical Support Point, signed on August 9”.Syria announced earlier this month that a deal had been agreed after 18 months of negotiations that will see Khmeimim and Tartous turned into “joint training and capacity-building centres”, with Syria to take control of civilian facilities at both bases.Russia backed former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad throughout Syria’s 13-year civil war, intervening militarily to keep him in power and expanding the Russian footprint at the Khmeimim Air Base and Tartous Naval Base on the Mediterranean coast.