Syria’s interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa meets with Putin in Moscow

MOSCOW (AP) — Syria’s interim leader, who led a swift rebel offensive last year that ousted former Syrian President Bashar Assad despite years of Moscow’s support, held talks Wednesday in Russia during his first visit to the country that gave asylum to the deposed autocrat.

Welcoming interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the historic links between Moscow and Damascus, and he voiced hope for their expansion. The meeting underlines Russia’s desire to establish working ties with Syria’s new leadership and secure a military foothold in the country.

Assad was an ally of Russia, and Moscow’s scorched-earth intervention in support of him a decade ago turned the tide of Syria’s civil war, keeping Assad in his seat until his swift removal in December.

Russia, which has focused on the fighting in Ukraine and kept only a small military contingent in Syria, didn’t try to counter the rebel offensive but gave asylum to Assad after he fled the country.

Despite having been on opposite sides of the battle lines during the civil war, the new rulers in Damascus have taken a pragmatic approach to relations with Moscow. Russia has retained a presence at its air and naval bases on the Syrian coast, and the Kremlin has voiced hope for negotiating a deal to keep the outposts. Moscow has also reportedly sent oil shipments to Syria.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday the future of the Russian bases in Syria was on the talks’ agenda.

Syrian state news agency SANA reported that al-Sharaa and Putin will “discuss regional and international developments of mutual interest and explore ways to develop cooperation to serve the common interests of both countries.”

Al-Sharaa didn’t mention the Russian bases in his brief televised remarks at the start of the meeting but emphasized the “long historic relationship” between the countries and their “common interests,” noting that Syria still partially depends on Russian production and expertise, particularly in the energy field.

“We are trying to restore and define in a new way the nature of this relationship,” he said.

Putin, in turn, hailed Syria’s parliamentary elections held this month as a “big success,” saying they will help consolidate society.

In a recent interview with the CBS News show “60 Minutes,” al-Sharaa said the Syrian authorities “will use all available legal means” to demand the trial of Assad.

Speaking to reporters Monday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized that Moscow granted asylum to Assad on humanitarian grounds as “he and his family faced physical extermination.” Lavrov rejected speculation that the former Syrian president had recently been treated for poisoning, saying that he “had no problems in living in our capital and there have been no poisonings.”

Russian delegations visited Damascus in January and September, and Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani visited Moscow in July.

For the new Syrian government, maintaining ties with Russia was important for rebuilding the war-shattered country and offered a way to diversify its foreign policy.

For Moscow, it’s essential to keep its naval and air bases in Syria, the only such outposts outside the former Soviet Union that are crucial for maintaining Russia’s military presence in the Mediterranean.

Ties with Damascus are also important for the Kremlin as part of its efforts to expand Russia’s clout in the Middle East. Moscow had planned to host a Russia-Arab summit this week, but Putin postponed it to avoid interference with the ceasefire deal for Gaza brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump.

In the CBS interview, al-Sharaa noted that “Russia has close and long-standing relations with Syria, which relate to the basic structure of the state and to energy and food, for which Syria depends partly on Russian supplies, as well as some old strategic interests.”

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Associated Press journalist Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed.