Putin could keep military bases in Syria

 Syria’s new president has told Vladimir Putin he would honour all past deals struck between his country and Moscow, suggesting Russia’s two Syrian bases are safe.

Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the rebel offensive last year that ousted Bashar al-Assad, said on his first visit to the country that gave the deposed dictator asylum that he was seeking to “restore and redefine ties”.

In front of the world’s television cameras, Putin greeted the former al-Qaeda insurgent warmly in the Kremlin. Privately, the Syrian leader, once hunted by Moscow’s forces, is expected to be pushing Russia to hand over Assad, who fled there in December.

On a visit fraught with tension, Mr al-Sharaa told Putin: “There are bilateral relations and shared interests that bind us with Russia, and we respect all agreements made with it. We are working on redefining the nature of relations with Russia.”

Putin, meanwhile, praised the historic links between Moscow and Damascus, and said Russia was ready to act on “many interesting and useful beginnings” between the two sides.

Despite having been on opposite sides of the battle lines during the nearly 14-year civil war, both regimes have taken a pragmatic approach to one another.

For the new Syrian government, presiding over a country shattered by war, maintaining ties with Russia is important for rebuilding and diversifying its foreign policy, while hoping to score economic concessions.

In turn, Putin is desperate to maintain Russia’s military foothold in Syria – primarily, its Tartus naval base and Khmeimim air base, built to give Russia access to the Mediterranean and allow it to resupply mercenary operations in Africa.

Russia has retained a presence at the strategic bases on the Syrian coast and the Kremlin has been clear it intends to negotiate a deal to keep the vital outposts, as well as pursue economic and energy-related interests in the country.

Tartus is Russia’s only naval base in the region that the Kremlin independently controls, while Khmeimim acted as the launchpad for Russia’s bombing campaign against rebel-held areas in Syria, and provided Assad’s escape route to Moscow.

Mr al-Sharaa did not mention the two bases in his brief televised remarks, nor did he mention the most sensitive topic on the agenda: Assad, who is reported to be living in luxurious exile in Moscow with his family.

It is not clear whether Mr al-Sharaa would tie the bases to Assad’s fate in talks.

The former rebel leader will use the talks in Russia to formally request that Moscow hand over Assad to face trial over alleged crimes against Syrians, two Syrian sources told Reuters.

Syrian officials are seeking guarantees that Russia will not help rearm remnants of Assad’s forces and are hopeful that Russia might help rebuild the Syrian army, another source said.

He is also likely to press for Russian backing to help resist Israeli demands for a wider demilitarised zone in southern Syria.

In a recent interview with CBS News, Mr al-Sharaa said Syrian authorities “will use all available legal means” to demand the trial of Assad.

Russia is unlikely to agree to give up Assad because of the message it would send to its other autocratic allies. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said this week that Assad had been given refuge on “humanitarian grounds”.