In February, Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Kasra told the Washington Post that Russia could retain its military bases only if the arrangement proved beneficial to Syria.
In late June, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Middle East envoy and deputy minister of foreign affairs, Mikhail Bogdanov, said Moscow had extended an invitation to Shibani and remained in contact with Syrian officials. According to Russian state news agency TASS, Bogdanov said, “We are in contact, and everything is going smoothly for now. I hope we will reach a mutual understanding," referring to Russia’s air and naval bases in Syria’s northwest.
Background: Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has signaled a pragmatic approach toward Russia. “Russia is an important country and is considered the second most powerful in the world,” he told Al Arabiya in late December shortly after taking office. He added that he had no plans to sever ties with Moscow despite its history of support for Assad, saying, "All of Syria's arms are of Russian origin, and many power plants are managed by Russian experts. … We do not want Russia to leave Syria in the way that some wish."
In late January, a delegation of Russian officials including Bogdanov arrived on a first official visit to Syria since Assad's ouster. The delegation met with Sharaa and Shibani in Damascus. A press release from Russia's Foreign Ministry following the meeting read that the Russian side emphasized "its readiness to extend essential assistance to the Syrian people in their post-crisis national recovery."
Russia had been a backer of Assad throughout Syria’s civil war, providing his government military and political support. In December, following Assad’s flight from Syria, Russian state media reported that he and his family had been granted asylum in Moscow on humanitarian grounds.
In 2015, Russia established the Hmeimim air base in Latakia and later expanded its presence at its naval base in Tartous, Russia's only military presence in the Mediterranean. With Assad now gone, the Kremlin is seeking to preserve its military foothold under Syria’s new leadership. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a letter to Sharaa in March proposing “practical cooperation” following their first phone call the previous month.
Why it matters: Russia’s presence at both bases is formalized through agreements with the Assad government. The Tartous naval facility is leased to Moscow for 49 years under a 2017 deal that allows up to 11 Russian warships and grants Russian personnel legal immunity, while the Hmeimim airbase operates under a separate 2015 agreement that permits Russia to use the facility indefinitely, free of charge, with automatic renewals every 49 years. Syria’s new government, however, has signaled it may seek to renegotiate these terms to secure more favorable conditions. In his February interview, Syria’s defense minister said that an agreement on Russia’s military presence “requires additional negotiations.”
As of now, Russia maintains its presence at its two coastal bases. According to a Reuters report from March, both Hmeimim and Tartous remain staffed.
Know more: On Tuesday, Shibani met with China’s ambassador to Syria, Shi Hongwei, to discuss deepening bilateral cooperation and Beijing's support for Syria’s sovereignty in the aftermath of recent Israeli airstrikes. The meeting comes amid increasing coordination between Russia and China in the Middle East, particularly on Iran.
On Wednesday an Agence France-Presse report cited a diplomatic source as saying that Shibani will also stop in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Thursday for a meeting with Israeli officials including Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi. The report follows a meeting in Paris last week between Shibani and Dermer, mediated by US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, as Israel and Syria step up diplomatic engagement in the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes on the country.
Following the meeting, Barrack wrote on X that the aim of the talks were "dialogue and de-escalation, and we accomplished precisely that."
