Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has told Russian president Vladimir Putin that he wants to “restore and redefine” Syria’s relationship with Moscow.
Al-Sharaa met his Russian counterpart in the capital, where former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has been living for nearly a year after being ousted in December 2024.
“We are trying to restore and redefine in a new way the nature of these relations so there is independence for Syria, sovereign Syria, and also its territorial unity and integrity and its security stability,” al-Sharaa told Putin at the Kremlin.
The Syrian leader stressed that previous agreements with Moscow would continue to be respected.
According to several Syrian officials cited by Reuters and AFP, Al-Sharaa is also seeking Assad’s extradition as part of his talks with the Kremlin.
Russia continues to maintain a presence in Syria with an airbase and naval facilities near the coast, and the Kremlin is reportedly keen to preserve these bases under a future agreement with Damascus.
