Russian military bases in Syria face an uncertain future – Firstpost

For years, the soldiers of the HMEIMIM Air Base in Russia in Syria wandered freely through coastal cities. War planes flew from the complex to bomb the Islamist rebels fighting the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Not anymore. With the missing Assad, both in Hmeimim and in the Naval Base of the Soviet era of the Russia, 60 km (37 miles) to the south, small groups of former rebels keep the entries, their Islamist force Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) now in control of the country.

The uniformed guards of Caqui Escorts Any Russian convoys who venture, told Reuters journalists who visited the area last week.

“They have to notify us before they leave,” said one of the guards, declining registered.

The future of the bases, which are an integral part of the military reach of Russia in the Middle East and Africa, is in the hands of the interim president of Syria Ahmed Sharaa.

He wants to renegotiate the generous 49 -year lease contract of the Assad era for TTOUS and an indefinite lease so that Hmeimim ensures better terms, but does not seem to want Moscow to be completely excluded.

On the other hand, it seems that the bases can remain in exchange for a diplomatic support and financial compensation of Russia, deeply involved in the economy and defense of Syria for seven decades before it joined the civil war in 2015 and forged the devastation that helped keep Assad in power for years.

Assad fell in December, fleeing to Russia through Hmeimim. Islamist Syrian leadership, once the objective of relentless Russian air attacks, is now committed to Moscow at the negotiating table.

For this story, Reuters spoke with eight Syrian, Russian and diplomatic sources that gave previously not reported details of the first high -level meeting between Sharaa and an envoy sent by President Vladimir Putin, including the demands related to billions of dollars of debt, the future of Assad and the repatriation of Syrian money alleged as in Russia.

Like others in history, the sources requested anonymity to talk about sensitive issues.

Putting aside enmity has benefits for both parties. Despite the EU and the United States relieving some sanctions to Syria, the remaining restrictions make it difficult to do business with the country of 23 million devastated by war.

A restoration of the traditional supplies of weapons, fuel and wheat of Russia could be a life line. As such, the country’s leaders are willing to “make peace, even with their ancient enemies,” said a Damask Diplomat to Reuters.

“Moscow still has something to offer for Syria,” and is too powerful, too rooted to ignore, said Anna Borshchevskaya at the Washington Institute.

“Russia simply needs a government in Damascus that guarantees its interests, and would be willing to reach an agreement with that government,” he said. A UN Source of Help said that Russia has not exported grain to Syria under the new administration.

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, said little about Syria since he assumed office, but has tried to repair US relations with Moscow. A spokesman for the US Department of State.

The ally of the United States, Israel, wants Russia to stay as a bulwark against Turkish influence, Reuters reported Friday.

At the January 29 meeting in Damascus, Sharaa sought the cancellation of loans hired with Russia under Assad, two of the sources to Reuters said. Syria, who was largely free of foreign debt before the war, currently has $ 20 billion: $ 23 billion in external obligations, said Minister of Finance, Mohammad Abazid, last month, without specifying how much it was due to Russia.

During the three -hour meeting with the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Russian Mikhail Bogdanov, Syrian officials raised another key issue, Assad’s return to Syria, but only in broad terms, which suggests that it was not an important obstacle to the reconstruction of ties, said one of the sources. Russia will not agree to extradite Assad, and he had not been asked to do so, said a superior Russian source.

Sharaa also urged the repatriation of Syrian funds that his government believes that it was deposited by Assad in Moscow, but the Russian delegation, directed by the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikhail Bogdanov, denied that such funds exist, according to a diplomat based in Syria familiar with the conversations.

Sharaa’s office and the White House National Security Council did not respond to comments requests.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the Government of Syria said that Sharaa emphasized that the new relations must address the past errors and the compensation required by the destruction caused by Russia. The meeting was relatively without problems, all sources said. The Kremlin described a phone call between Sharaa and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He asked for Reuters on Tuesday if the conversations between Moscow and Damascus about the fate of Russia’s military bases were progressing, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, “we continue our contacts with the Syrian authorities.”

“So, well, let’s say the work process is underway,” he added.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comments.

Sergei Markov, former Kremlin advisor, said this month that things looked good for Moscow.

“The new Syrian authorities do not see Russia as a hostile country. But Russia will have to do something favorable for the Syrian government in exchange for these bases, ”he wrote in Telegram.

Syrian dilemma

In an interview with Saudi to Arabiya News at the end of December, Sharaa recognized Syria’s “strategic interests” with Russia, which supplied the country’s now missing army for generations and finally power plants and dams along with another key infrastructure.

In turn, with the US troops in the northeast of Syria, the Turkish forces in the north and the Israeli troops only in southern Syria, Russia is decided to maintain its only naval base in the Mediterranean.

Doing it would help Moscow retain political leverage in the midst of a diplomatic struggle to influence Damascus after Assad’s fall.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, his Turkish counterpart in Ankara on Monday. His conversations included Syria, said a Turkish source. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye did not respond to a request for comments.

Damascus wants compensation for the destruction of times of war. Reconstruction costs are projected at $ 400 billion, according to the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (Escwa).

It is unlikely that Moscow accepts responsibility, but instead could offer humanitarian aid, a source familiar with Russia’s opinion on the matter, said, said

In December, Putin offered the bases as centers to provide humanitarian aid to the Syrian people and Russia’s ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzy said that the Russian alliance with Syria “was not connected with any regime.” The UN help source said they did not know any help that had moved through the bases.

The destiny of Assad and the associates who fled to Moscow is a delicate issue. Russia is still resistant to the delivery of Assad, insisting on continuity in their alliances, said Russian and diplomatic sources.

“Russia not simply renounces people because the wind changes direction,” said the upper Russian source.

Debris

The Syrian War, which exploded almost 14 years ago with protests against the autocratic government of Assad, left hundreds of thousands of dead people, about 13 million displaced and stripes of the country in ruins.

Driving from Damascus along the road to the Russian bases, the entire areas are like a gloomy reminders of Syrian and Russian air attacks. Buildings are destroyed or reduced to debris.

On the other side of the Hmeimim Air Base Street, the shopkeepers sat in empty food stalls, regretting their serious conditions in the city in ruins.

In their markets, the store signs are in Russian, but the soldiers no longer visit or remain in coffees, the premises said.

“The Russian soldiers used to come here to buy beer, whiskey and other drinks, but that stopped,” said the owner of a sandwiches store in front of the base. “Now, they only leave their naval base in convoys. They no longer stop or venture. “