Saturday, October 18, 2025
Image: Sergey Bobylev (TASS).
On Wednesday, Syrian interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa visited Moscow for a meeting with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, despite both rulers having taken opposite sides on the Syrian Civil War just last year as Sharaa successfully led an offensive against forces of then president Bashar al-Assad, resulting in the toppling of his regime in December.[SOURCE, SOURCE]
Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, said that the meeting involved discussions on healthcare, transport, energy, tourism, and culture, as reported by CNN.[Source]
During the encounter, al-Sharaa said his government would honour all past agreements between both countries, including one securing the continued maintenance of the two Russian military outposts in Tartus and Khmeimim, as well as re-establish bilateral relations with all countries while still prioritising its partnership with Moscow.[Source, Source] “We have close relations with Russia, and a large part of the energy sector in Syria depends on Russian expertise,”, al-Sharaa said.[Source]
Putin in turn spoke about Russia’s decades-long “special relationship” with Syria,[Source] claiming it was never motivated by political interests: “Throughout these decades, we have always been guided by one thing: the interests of the Syrian people […]”. He further commended the parliamentary elections held earlier this month in Syria, saying it would help strengthening internal political cooperation, CNN reported.[Source]
According to unnamed Syrian sources,[Source] al-Sharaa was expected to touch upon the sensitive subject of extraditing Assad, who the German newspaper Die Zeit reported is currently living in a luxury flat in Russia’s capital. Russian foreign affairs minister Sergey Lavrov stated the government had conceded asylum to the deposed ruler for “humanitarian reasons” as he was assessed to be at risk of “physical extermination” domestically, though the minister denied rumors that he was in ill health for alcohol poisoning.[Source, Source] Sharaa was also expected to press Russia for help on opposing demands by Israel that southern Syria be demilitarised, the Telegraph reported.[Source]
Syria’s 13-year-long civil war began in March 2011 and left over 500,000 people and millions of others displaced. Russia intervened militarily in the war on behalf of al-Assad in 2015, keeping him in power until his downfall last December. Prior to the Wednesday meeting, Russian delegations had visited the country’s capital Damascus twice in January and September, whereas Syrian foreign affair minister Asaad al-Shaibani went to Moscow in July, according to Euronews.[Source]
- Pjotr Sauer. Syrian president in first visit to Moscow as former enemies hold talks — The Guardian, October 15, 2025
- James Landale. Syria’s Sharaa meets Putin in Moscow for first time since fall of Assad — BBC News Online, October 15, 2025
- Iona Cleave. Putin could keep military bases in Syria — The Daily Telegraph, October 15, 2025
- Aleksandar Brezar. Syria’s Al-Sharaa seeks extradition of Kremlin ally al-Assad in first Moscow trip — Euronews, October 15, 2025
- Anna Chernova, Eyad Kourdi, Catherine Nicholls. Syria’s interim president visits Putin in Moscow for first meeting since fall of Assad regime — CNN, October 15, 2025
- Associated Press. Syria’s Sharaa tells Putin he wants to ‘redefine’ Russia ties on Moscow visit — France 24, October 15, 2025
