Syria says reached deal with Moscow on fate of Russian bases
Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to Hmeimim Air Base in Syria, December 12, 2017 (Getty)
Syria said on Aug. 9 that it reached a deal with Moscow on the fate of Russia's two bases in the country, which it once used to provide military support to ousted leader Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian civil war.
Syria's official SANA news agency quoted the foreign ministry as saying that Hmeimim airbase and Tartus naval base, Russia's only two official military bases outside the former Soviet Union, would be turned into "joint training and capacity-building centers within new arrangements that preserve mutual interests."
The memorandum of understanding, which followed a year and a half of negotiations, "set a time limit of no more than three months to complete the process," SANA added.
