Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said it is too early to discuss the status of Moscow’s presence in the country after the fall of Bashar Assad’s government
FILE PHOTO: A Russian Il-76 aircraft lands at the Hmeimim airbase in Syria. © Sputnik / Maksim Blinov
The Kremlin has said it is too early to determine the future of Russia’s military bases in Khmeimim and Tartus, Syria. Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov stressed that discussions about the bases will depend on the new leaders of Syria.
“Currently, we are witnessing a period of transformation and extreme instability,” Peskov told journalists on Monday. He noted that the recent developments in Syria have surprised the world, including Russia. “It will take time before we can engage in serious conversations with those who hold power.”
Russian military forces are present in Syria at Khmeimim Airbase and a logistics support center in Tartus, located in the western part of the country along the Mediterranean coast. In 2017, Moscow and Damascus agreed to station Russian troops at these bases for a period of 49 years.
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According to reports, the armed Syrian opposition forces have approached the two key Russian military bases. A local source told TASS news agency that they are not currently under threat. “Opposition forces have neither invaded nor do they plan to encroach upon the territory of Russian military installations, which are operating normally,” the source said.
The militant groups that overthrew former President Bashar Assad’s government in Syria have pledged to respect Russia’s military installations and diplomatic missions within the country, a Kremlin source told TASS on Sunday.
Various opposition groups, including Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham jihadists and US-backed Free Syrian Army fighters, seized control of Damascus over the weekend as the Syrian Army retreated and Assad sought asylum in Russia.