Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow as Russia seeks to secure its remaining military outposts in the country.
MOSCOW: Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday.
The Kremlin is seeking to secure the future of its military bases in the country.
“A discussion is planned on the status of bilateral relations and prospects for developing them in various fields, as well as the current situation in the Middle East,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
Russia’s influence in the Middle East has waned since its ally Bashar al-Assad was toppled by Sharaa’s rebel forces in 2024.
Putin is now seeking to maintain Russia’s military footprint in the region.
Russia withdrew its forces from the Qamishli airport in northeast Syria earlier this week.
It now maintains only the Hmeimim airbase and Tartus naval base on Syria’s Mediterranean coast.
These are its only military outposts outside the former Soviet Union.
Russia’s continued sheltering of Assad and his wife since their ouster remains a thorny issue.
Sharaa has repeatedly pushed Russia for their extradition.
Sharaa has meanwhile embraced US President Donald Trump, who on Tuesday praised the Syrian leader as “highly respected”.
Trump said things were “working out very well” between the two nations.
Despite this public praise, both the United States and Europe have expressed concern over a recent Syrian offensive in the northeast.
They fear the offensive against Kurdish forces could precipitate the return of Islamic State fighters held in Kurdish jails.
Russia was a key ally of Assad during the bloody 14-year Syrian civil war.
It launched air strikes on rebel-held areas controlled by Sharaa’s Islamist forces.
The toppling of Assad dealt a major blow to Russia’s regional influence.
It also laid bare the limits of Moscow’s military reach amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
