Ahmed al-Sharaa in effort to diversify alliances while Putin seeks to safeguard military interests in Syria
The Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, travelled to Moscow on Wednesday for talks with Vladimir Putin, marking their first meeting since the fall of the Kremlin ally Bashar al-Assad and his subsequent exile in Russia.
The talks underscored Moscow’s efforts to safeguard its military foothold in Syria and forge relations with the new rulers in Damascus, with both sides taking a pragmatic approach despite having been enemies only a year ago.
The meeting is notable given that Sharaa, a former jihadist, led the successful rebellion against the Moscow-backed Assad regime last year, in which his rebel forces briefly came under fire from Russian jets before Moscow withdrew its support for the Assad family.
Speaking in the Kremlin, Sharaa said his government respected all previously signed agreements between Damascus and Moscow, indicating that Russia would be allowed to retain its military bases in Syria, though the exact scale of their presence remains unclear.
