MOSCOW: New Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa's first visit to Moscow has concluded.
On October 15, the new Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa made his first visit to Moscow. What did he discuss with Vladimir Putin, and how are the republic's new authorities seeking international recognition?
What Putin and al-Sharaa discussed in the Kremlin
On October 15, Syrian transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in Moscow on his first official visit. He assumed leadership of the country after the fall of the Russian-backed regime of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
During the protocol portion of the talks, Vladimir Putin emphasized that relations between Moscow and Damascus, since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1944, have not been subordinated to "political expediency or special interests." "We have always, throughout these decades, been guided by one thing—the interests of the Syrian people," he explained.
The Russian president also mentioned the parliamentary elections held in Syria on October 5 and called their results a "great success" for al-Sharaa, "because they lead to the consolidation of society, and despite the fact that Syria is currently going through difficult times, they will nevertheless strengthen ties and interaction between all political forces in Syria."
On November 27, 2024, the combined forces of the Syrian armed opposition and Islamist groups launched a large-scale offensive in northwestern Syria. On November 29, they entered Aleppo, the republic's second-largest city. The very next day, rebels were able to fully regain control of eastern Idlib province, lost as a result of Bashar al-Assad's offensive in 2020. Other major cities, Hama and Homs, subsequently fell.
On the night of December 8, rebels entered Damascus; President Bashar al-Assad, who had ruled the country since 2000, fled to Moscow. On January 29, 2025, al-Sharaa, the head of the Islamist Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, a terrorist group banned in Russia), became the country's interim president. The country's constitution was abrogated, and the parliament, army, security services, and militias were dissolved.
The first elections to the Syrian parliament, the People's Council, after the regime change were held under a special "temporary electoral system." Voting was indirect, conducted by electoral colleges. All candidates ran as independents, as political parties in the country were dissolved. Two-thirds of the 210-seat council were elected in this manner. Since elections were not held in regions populated by ethnic minorities—Kurds and Druze—19 seats remained vacant. The remaining third of the deputies will be appointed by the president.
Putin also noted that the bilateral intergovernmental commission had recently resumed its work, and that many "interesting and useful initiatives" had been discussed during the Russian delegation's September visit to Damascus. In response, al-Sharaa emphasized Russia's significant contribution to Syria's development and the "significant bridges of cooperation" linking the two countries. "We will continue to work in this direction. We will try to relaunch our relations and introduce you, among other things, to the new Syria," he promised.
The talks lasted more than two hours. Afterward, the leaders did not make a joint statement to the media, but the Kremlin had announced that morning that one of the central topics of the talks would be the future of Russian military bases in Syria—the Khmeimim airbase and the 720th logistics base of the Russian Navy in Tartus (in 2017, Moscow reached an agreement with the then-Syrian authorities to station its garrisons at these facilities for 49 years).
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova reported that the parties are holding closed-door talks, including "in the context of a possible reorganization of the functionality of Russian military facilities." Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov explained that Russian bases could become logistics hubs for delivering humanitarian aid to Africa. "The Syrian side is interested in maintaining our military bases in Tartus and Khmeimim. As the president said, we are relying on the interests of the host country, the Syrian Arab Republic," he explained. The new Syrian leadership has promised to allow Russian troops to remain in the republic under favorable terms.
Reuters sources reported that during the Kremlin talks, al-Sharaa also planned to seek the extradition of Bashar al-Assad. In late September, a Damascus court issued an arrest warrant for the former head of state on charges of torture and deliberate murder in Daraa province during the 2011 protests. According to the German newspaper Zeit, citing a source, Assad and his family live in Moscow City and also own a dacha in the Moscow region. According to the newspaper, he spends many hours playing online games.
How Moscow's contacts with the new Syrian authorities developed
On January 28, 2025, a delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov visited Damascus, and on February 12, the first telephone conversation took place between Vladimir Putin and Ahmed al-Sharaa. On July 31, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani arrived in Moscow for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Syrian Defense Minister Marhaf Abu Qasra also visited the Russian capital.
On September 9, a Russian delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak visited Damascus. On September 25, Lavrov and al-Shibani met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. On October 2, a delegation from the Syrian Ministry of Defense, led by Chief of the General Staff Ali Naasan, arrived in Moscow.
How Syria is Improving Its International Image
Al-Sharaa's debut on the international stage took place in March 2025, at an emergency summit in Cairo dedicated to the Palestinian issue. In May, he received an invitation to the Arab League summit in Baghdad, but chose to remain in Damascus, sending a delegation led by the foreign minister. Reuters reported that several influential Iraqi politicians opposed al-Sharaa's visit, as the Syrian leader had previously been a member of al-Qaeda in Iraq, which later transformed into the Islamic State (both organizations are designated terrorist and banned in Russia). In 2006, US forces detained him while attempting to mine a road near Mosul. Al-Sharaa spent approximately five years in Iraqi prisons, including the infamous Abu Ghraib, according to The Economist.
Nevertheless, in May, al-Sharaa and US President Donald Trump held talks in Riyadh; they were the first meeting between the two countries' leaders since 2000. Ahead of the talks, the American president announced the lifting of sanctions on Syria (although the corresponding executive order was only signed on June 30). "He's a young, attractive guy, a tough nut to crack. Yes, he has a tough past, he's a strong fighter, he has a real chance to get this under control," Trump said after the meeting. However, the US offered a $10 million reward for information leading to al-Sharaa's capture until the end of December 2024.
In mid-September, al-Sharaa participated in the Arab-Islamic Emergency Summit in Doha, where he met with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. He also visited Ankara twice, where he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. For the first time in many years, the Turkish and Syrian leaders directly discussed border security and the situation in the Kurdish regions.
And at the end of September, al-Sharaa addressed the UN General Assembly. He became the first Syrian leader in nearly 60 years to address the international community from that podium. Al-Sharaa called for the lifting of the "shackles" of sanctions against the Syrian people and declared that "Syria is regaining its rightful place among the nations of the world." On the sidelines of the assembly, he also held talks with Trump, Erdoğan, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the President of Ukraine, and EU leaders.
Since the beginning of the year, the EU, the UK, and Switzerland have decided to lift or ease sanctions against Syria. The Persian Gulf countries have become key sponsors of Syria's post-war reconstruction: a Qatari-led consortium will allocate $7 billion for energy projects in the republic, Saudi Arabia has promised to invest $6.4 billion in construction projects, and a UAE company will invest $800 million in the reconstruction of the port of Tartus.
(RBC)
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