Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday in the first such meeting with since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who currently resides in Moscow.
Al-Sharaa arrived in Russia earlier on Wednesday where SANA said that during the visit he will hold talks with Putin “on bilateral relations between the two countries and regional and international developments of common interest.”
During the meeting Putin on the fact that parliamentary elections were held earlier this month and said Moscow was ready for stronger ties with Damascus.
During his visit, al-Sharaa was reportedly going to ask Russia to hand over al-Assad, a government official said.
The official, who requested anonymity as they were not allowed to brief the media, told AFP that “al-Sharaa will ask the Russian president to hand over all individuals who committed war crimes and are in Russia, most notably Bashar al-Assad,” the longtime ruler who was toppled in December and sought refuge in Moscow.
Russia used its military muscle to back al-Assad for years against anti-government forces, who came to power in December last year led by al-Sharaa. Moscow then gave asylum to al-Assad and his family when they fled the country.
The al-Assads now live discreetly in Moscow, according to Russian media.
Putin was also discuss the fate of Russian military bases in Syria with al-Sharaa during talks, the Kremlin said.
Russia has two main military bases in Syria - the Hmeimim airbase in Latakia province, and a naval facility at Tartous on the coast.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that Moscow believed that Damascus wanted the military bases to stay and spoke about an idea of also using them as logistics hubs to get aid to Africa by sea and air.
Syrian officials are also seeking guarantees that Russia will not help rearm remnants of al-Assad’s forces, one Syrian source said. Al-Sharaa is hoping that Russia might also help rebuild the Syrian army, the same source said.
Al-Sharaa, who is hoping to secure economic concessions, including the resumption of wheat supplies on favorable terms and compensation for war damage, is expected to press for Moscow’s backing to resist Israeli demands for a wider demilitarized zone in southern Syria.
He may also raise the issue of redeploying Russian military police as a guarantor against further Israeli encroachments, one of the two sources said.
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