damascus, syriaAP —
Syria has reached an agreement on the future of two strategic bases on the Mediterranean coast, ultimately ending their use as military outposts in Moscow, Syria’s Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday.
Russia was ousted President Bashar al-Assad’s biggest political and military ally from 2011 to 2024, when Syria fought Islamist-led insurgents, of which the current interim president, Ahmad al-Shallah, was a prominent extremist leader.
Throughout the conflict, Hmeimem Air Base and Tartus Naval Base near Latakia were important Russian outposts in the eastern Mediterranean.
Under the agreement, Syria will control the Hmeimem air base and commercial anchorage at the port of Tartus as part of its civil administration. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the military facilities at both bases will become “joint training and qualification centers.”
The ministry said the new arrangement represents a “realignment of Russia’s presence” on the Syrian coast.
“This move marks the most significant development since negotiations began nearly a year and a half ago and paves the way for a new phase in Syrian-Russian relations,” the statement said.
Russia did not immediately comment on the deal.
The Russian government did not intervene during the uprising that led to Assad’s overthrow, but it did offer asylum to the longtime Syrian leader and his family. After the ouster of President Assad, the remaining Russian forces in Syria gradually withdrew from the country.
Syria’s new leadership aims to maintain strong bilateral relations with Moscow. Al-Shara has visited President Vladimir Putin in Moscow twice since taking office, and the two bases in the Mediterranean have been a major topic of discussion.
Since Assad’s ouster, Syria has also strengthened ties with the United States, Europe and neighboring Arab states, which had severed ties with Damascus during Assad’s crackdown on protests. The US government has lifted most of the country’s crippling sanctions, and French President Emmanuel Macron visited Syria in July, during which he announced that the two countries would each appoint their own ambassadors for the first time in 14 years.
