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A Russian delegation has arrived in the Syrian capital, Damascus, for the first time since the fall of the Assad regime last December, TASS reported on January 28
The Russian news agency said that the delegation, which is expected to hold talks with Syria’s new government, includes Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Alexander Lavrentiev, the Kremlin’s special envoy for Syria.
Earlier, Reuters reported citing two Syrian sources that talks between the delegation and the Syrian government, which is led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), were expected to take place in Damascus this week.
In late November 2024, a rebel coalition led by HTS launched a large-scale offensive on government troops in the Aleppo and Idlib governorates. By the evening of December 7, they captured several large cities, including Aleppo, Hama, Deir ez-Zor, Daraa, and Homs. On December 8, they entered Damascus. Bashar Assad stepped down as Syrian president and left the country.
The visit comes as Moscow seeks to secure the fate of two military bases on the Syria coast, the naval base in Tartus port and its air base at Khmeimim.
A report released by Bloomberg on January 28 alleged that talks on the future of the two bases were stalled. The timing of the report suggests that it is meant to sabotage the visit. Still, this does not mean that Russia is guaranteed to reach a favorable agreement with Syria’s new rulers.
Earlier this week, satellite images posted to social networks revealed that Russia has evacuated dozens of military vehicles from Tartus base. The equipment was however gathered there from dozens of posts across Syria. It remains unclear if any equipment related to the work of the base itself were also withdrawn.
Since the fall of Assad, Moscow and Damascus have exchanged positive remarks. The two sides appear to be willing to find a common ground. However, with the war over in Syria for the most part, the Russian military deployment in the country will definitely go down in size and change its shape even if the Syrian side agreed to keep the two bases.
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