{"id":3219,"date":"2026-03-04T15:29:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T15:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/3219\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T15:29:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T15:29:43","slug":"putin-hosts-syrias-interim-leader-for-talks-with-russian-military-bases-on-the-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/3219\/","title":{"rendered":"Putin hosts Syria’s interim leader for talks, with Russian military bases on the agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"

MOSCOW (AP) \u2014 Syria\u2019s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa<\/a> visited Moscow on Wednesday for the second time in less than four months, and Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized his readiness to help the country rebuild its war-battered economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that there is a lot that\u2019s necessary to restore in Syria, and our economic operators, including the construction sector, are ready for this joint work,\u201d Putin said.<\/p>\n

The talks also were expected to focus on the future of Russian military bases in Syria, a key foothold for Moscow in the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n

Al-Sharaa, who first visited Russia in October, thanked Putin for helping to stabilize Syria.<\/p>\n

He led a swift rebel offensive<\/a> in December 2024 that ousted former Syrian President Bashar Assad, who enjoyed Moscow\u2019s support for years as his government fought a devastating civil war.<\/p>\n

Russia, which in recent years has been focused on the fighting in Ukraine and kept only a small military contingent in Syria, didn\u2019t try to counter the rebel offensive. It gave asylum to Assad and his family after he fled the country.<\/p>\n

The Russian military recently has begun pulling out<\/a> from a base in northeastern Syria in an area still controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces<\/a> after the group lost most of its territory in an offensive by government forces.<\/p>\n

Putin told al-Sharaa that Moscow always supported Syria\u2019s integrity and congratulated him on reclaiming control over the area, describing it as a \u201cvery important step.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know that we always stood for the restoration of Syria\u2019s territorial integrity, and we support all your efforts in this direction,\u201d Putin said.<\/p>\n

In the meeting, al-Sharaa emphasized the importance of Russia\u2019s role in supporting Syria\u2019s unity and stability, Syria\u2019s SANA state news agency reported. He noted that in 2025, Syria had overcome major challenges, the latest of which was the reunification of its territories, and he expressed hope for a transition to stability and peace, it added.<\/p>\n

Fighting broke out early this month between the SDF and government forces after negotiations over a deal to merge broke down. A ceasefire is now in place and has been largely holding. After the expiration of a four-day truce Saturday, the sides announced the ceasefire had been extended by another 15 days.<\/p>\n

Despite having been on opposite sides from Moscow during the civil war, the interim government in Damascus has signaled readiness to develop ties in apparent hopes that Russia could help rebuild the war-shattered country and offer a way to diversify its foreign policy.<\/p>\n

For the Kremlin, it\u2019s essential to keep its naval and air bases on Syria\u2019s coast, the only such outposts outside the former Soviet Union that are crucial for maintaining Russia\u2019s military presence in the Mediterranean. Russian authorities have voiced hope for negotiating a deal to maintain the Hmeimim air base and the naval outpost in Tartus.<\/p>\n

Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and military intelligence chief Adm. Igor Kostyukov were among senior officials who took part in Wednesday\u2019s Kremlin talks.<\/p>\n

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said ahead of the meeting that \u201call issues related to our military\u2019s presence in Syria will be discussed in the talks.\u201d He refused to comment on reports that Syria\u2019s interim government had pushed for Assad\u2019s extradition.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MOSCOW (AP) \u2014 Syria\u2019s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa visited Moscow on Wednesday for the second time in less…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[2487,1828,2489,887,2488,197,2486,1829,768,81,2485,2157,53,1830,95,1595,1976,200,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-3219","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-syria","8":"tag-abby-sewell","9":"tag-ahmad-al-sharaa","10":"tag-andrei-belousov","11":"tag-bashar-assad","12":"tag-dmitry-peskov","13":"tag-general-news","14":"tag-igor-kostyukov","15":"tag-international-agreements","16":"tag-military-and-defense","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-rebellions-and-uprisings","19":"tag-russia-government","20":"tag-russia-ukraine-war","21":"tag-send-to-apple-news","22":"tag-syria","23":"tag-syria-government","24":"tag-vladimir-putin","25":"tag-war-and-unrest","26":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116171621377982065","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}