Middle East
Russia’s hopes to keep Syria bases fade with talks stalled
Bloomberg News
January 28, 2025
Russia is facing the loss of its naval base in Tartus, Syria — its only hub on the Mediterranean Sea. (Maxime Popov, AFP via Getty Images/TNS)
(Tribune News Service) — Russia is struggling to retain two military bases in Syria that have enabled it to project influence in the Middle East and Africa, according to a person in Moscow familiar with the situation.
Negotiations with the new Syrian government are stuck, the person said, asking not to be identified because the matter is sensitive. Russian activities at its airfield in Hmeimim have been curtailed and two transport ships were kept waiting for weeks before Syrian officials allowed them to dock at a naval base in Tartus to remove military equipment, the person said.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, President Vladimir Putin’s special representative for the Middle East, arrived in Damascus on Tuesday, the first visit by a delegation from Moscow since the change of power in Syria, the state-run Tass news service reported.
The Kremlin had been optimistic it could persuade Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, or HTS, the former al-Qaeda offshoot that last month led the ousting of Kremlin ally President Bashar al-Assad, to let it remain at the bases. Russia helped Assad flee to Moscow as his regime crumbled. Tartus is the only Russian naval hub in the Mediterranean and Hmeimim is a key resupply base for Moscow’s activities in many parts of Africa.
Russia has used the two bases to try to rebuild its Cold War-era influence in the Middle East. Their loss would be a significant strategic setback as Russia remains locked in escalating confrontation with the U.S. and its European allies almost three years since Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and the Russian Defense Ministry didn’t immediately respond to requests to comment. Syria’s Foreign Ministry couldn’t be reached for comment.
At least one of the Russian ships, the Sparta II, designed to transport wheeled cargoes such as trucks, left the Tartus port area on Tuesday, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
Putin ordered his military to intervene in Syria in support of Assad in 2015, helping turn the war against rebel forces at that time. In 2017, Russia was awarded 49-year leases to the Tartus base and the Hmeimim airfield.
Turkey, which backed the rebels in ousting Assad and is a rival to Russia in Syria, opposes the continuation of Moscow’s military presence in the country. It’s highly doubtful the new Syrian authorities will let Russia stay at the bases after Russian warplanes targeted opposition forces during the country’s civil war, said two senior Turkish officials.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry declined to comment.
Turkey has offered to supply the Syrian armed forces with weapons and provide training. Much of the country’s military capability has been destroyed by Israeli attacks since Assad was overthrown.
The German and French foreign ministers visited Syria soon after the New Year as the European Union stepped up efforts to build ties with the new authorities and persuade them to curtail Russia’s influence.
EU foreign ministers reached a preliminary deal Monday on a roadmap to ease sanctions gradually on Syria, the bloc’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, told reporters.
Some Group of Seven nations and allies have explored ways to enable Syria to find alternatives to imports of Russian oil and food, Bloomberg reported earlier this month. Ukraine sent Syria a shipment of wheat and promised more deliveries during a visit in December by the foreign and agricultural chiefs.
With assistance from Selcan Hacaoglu, Donato Paolo Mancini and Samy Adghirni.
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Visit bloomberg.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.