New Syrian Gov't in Talks with Russian Officials

Dec. 29—Leading members of the new Syrian government control of Damascus have held talks with Russian officials in Ankara and Doha, according to Anas al-Abdah, a representative of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, TASS reported in its Press Review Dec. 26 Discussions centered on Syria’s future governance structure. As for Russian bases in Syria, Al-Abdah emphasized that their presence would depend on a bilateral agreement between the two countries. He also highlighted the importance of building constructive relations based on mutual interests that are shared by the Syrian and Russian populations.

The development is not very good news for NATO and its assets in the area, who have touted the collapse of the pro-Russian regime of Bashar al-Assad as a step in driving Russian influence from the region, with what they claimed was the likely loss of its major Naval and air bases in Syria.

“The measured stance adopted by Syria’s new leadership toward Russian military assets aligns with their broader strategy of gaining legitimacy in the eyes of both regional actors and the global community,” commented Grigory Lukyanov, a senior researcher at the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies under the Russian Academy of Sciences, in a statement to Izvestia.

He further stated that Russian military bases have not become rallying points for Alawite factions or remnants of the former Syrian Arab Army, groups widely considered adversaries of the ruling Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group now controlling Damascus..