- Syria is open to allowing Russia to hold onto two key military bases after Bashar Assad’s ousting.
- Syria’s new defense minister said that relations with Russia, which supported Assad, have improved.
- Hmeimim and Tartus bases are strategic for Russia, offering major air and naval advantages.
Syria is open to allowing Russia to keep hold of its two military bases in the country, two months after rebel groups ousted Kremlin ally Bashar Assad and set in motion a Russian troop and military equipment withdrawal.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra said that there is a possibility Russia could hold onto the bases — Hmeimim air base and Tartus port — “if we get benefits for Syria out of this.”
It’s not clear what military, economic, or political support could be offered, but Abu Qasra said that Russia’s stance had “improved significantly” toward the new government.
Assad, who ruled Syria for 24 years, fled to Russia in early December after a lightning two-week military campaign by rebel forces.
This threw Russia’s hold on the bases — described by Andreas Krieg, a Gulf specialist at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at King’s College London, as Russia’s “most important bases outside the direct sphere of Russian influence” — into question.
Russia was granted a 49-year lease on the bases in 2017 in return for military assistance.
At the end of January, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said that “nothing has changed” and that preserving Russian access to the bases “requires additional negotiations,” according to Russian state-controlled news agency TASS.
Prior to his ousting, Assad had enjoyed strong military and political support from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who stationed troops there and helped suppress rebel areas and a 2015 uprising with air and missile strikes.
Within days of Assad’s removal, satellite images picked up a flurry of Russian activity at the bases: equipment being packed up, ships moving in and out of port, and the likely transfer of soldiers.
In January, Ukraine said that Russia was moving military gear from Tartus to Libya, where it also has a strong influence.
The Syrian bases are a key foothold in the Middle East and beyond for Russia.
Hmeimim affords Russian air forces a base for refueling and overflight for much of Africa. Tartus, on the Mediterranean, is unique in Russia’s assets in being its only warm-water port with direct access to the oceans.
The rebel groups now governing Syria were previously targetted by Russian forces, but Abu Qasra told the Post, “in politics, there are no permanent enemies.”
One trump card held by Russia is Assad himself. According to the Post, the new Syrian government wants Assad’s extradition so that he can be held to account for his bloody rule.
