DAMASCUS: Russia’s TASS state news agency said Tuesday that a team from the Russian government has reached Damascus for the first time since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, a friend of Moscow. Alexander Lavrentiev, the Kremlin’s special envoy for Syria, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov are part of the group, which is anticipated to negotiate with Syria’s new leaders.
Russia, a long-time ally of Assad, helped him retake land from rebels throughout the more than ten-year conflict that broke out in 2011 following his suppression of anti-Assad protests. However, Assad was forced to leave Damascus in December due to a fierce rebel attack late last year. He first fled to Moscow and then to the Russian-run Hmeimim Air Base in northern Syria. Days later, Bogdanov was cited by Russia’s Interfax news agency as stating that Russia’s communications with Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, the Islamist rebel organisation that led the campaign to overthrow Assad, were “proceeding in constructive fashion.”
According to Bogdanov, Russia aspired to keep its two Syrian bases: the Hmeimim facility close to the port city of Latakia and a naval base in Tartous. However, according to media sources and three Syrian businesses, Syria’s new government terminated a deal with the Russian company STG Stroytransgaz last month to run and manage the Tartous port.
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