Syria on Sunday said it reached a memorandum of understanding with Moscow over the fate of Russia’s two bases in the country, agreeing to convert the military facilities into joint training and rehabilitation centers within three months.
Quoting the Foreign Ministry, Syria’s official SANA agency said the military bases and facilities at Hmeimim Airport and Tartus port would be turned into “joint training and rehabilitation centers, within new arrangements that preserve mutual interests”.
The Hmeimim air base and the Tartus naval base are considered Russia’s most prominent military foothold in Syria and have for years formed a cornerstone of the Russian military presence in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly since Moscow’s military intervention in Syria in 2015 in support of Bashar al-Assad’s government.
After the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, the future of the Russian military presence in Syria entered a new phase. Damascus and Moscow began negotiations regarding the nature of this presence and the future of Russian bases and facilities in the country. (AFP/EIR)
