By Vladimir Soldatkin, Andrew Osborn and Suleiman Al-Khalidi
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday he would honour all past deals struck between his country and Moscow, a pledge suggesting Moscow’s two main military bases in Syria are safe.
Sharaa, who once headed the Syrian branch of al Qaeda and who toppled predecessor Bashar al-Assad, a close Russian ally, late last year, was speaking at the start of Kremlin talks with Putin, his first visit to Russia since coming to power.
“There are bilateral relations and shared interests that bind us with Russia, and we respect all agreements made with it. We are working on redefining the nature of relations with Russia,” Sharaa, who was speaking in Arabic, told Putin.
Putin told him that Moscow was ready to do all it could to act on what he called “many interesting and useful beginnings” that had already been discussed between the two sides when it came to renewing relations.
The Kremlin chief also congratulated Sharaa on the fact that parliamentary elections were held earlier this month in Syria.
“I believe that this is a great success for you, because it leads to the consolidation of society, and despite the fact that Syria is currently going through difficult times, it will nevertheless strengthen ties and cooperation between all political forces in Syria,” said Putin.
RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES
The Kremlin said before the talks that the fate of Russia’s two main bases in Syria – the Hmeimim air base in Syria’s Latakia province, and its naval facility at Tartous on the coast – would be discussed.
Russia, which has economic and energy-related interests in Syria that it also wants to secure, has a military presence at Qamishli airport – in the northeast near the borders of Turkey and Iraq – as well.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Moscow believed Damascus wanted the military bases to stay and spoke about an idea of also using them as logistics hubs to get aid to Africa by sea and air.
Syrian officials are seeking guarantees that Russia will not help rearm remnants of Assad’s forces, a Syrian source said before the talks. Sharaa is hoping that Russia might also help rebuild the Syrian army, the same source said.
SENSITIVE VISIT
Sharaa’s visit is sensitive. Russia used its military muscle to back Assad for years against Syrian rebels who came to power in December last year led by Sharaa. Moscow then granted asylum to Assad and his family when they fled the country.
The Assads now live discreetly in Moscow, according to Russian media.
Sharaa will use the talks to formally request that Moscow hand over Assad to face trial over alleged crimes against Syrians, two Syrian sources told Reuters.
Russia prides itself on being able to protect its foreign allies and is not likely to agree to hand over Assad to Damascus. Lavrov said on Monday that Russia had given Assad refuge because his life had been under threat.
Sharaa, who is hoping to secure economic concessions from Russia, including the resumption of wheat supplies on favourable terms and compensation for war damage, is expected as well to press for Moscow’s backing to resist Israeli demands for a wider demilitarised zone in southern Syria.
He may also raise the issue of redeploying Russian military police as a guarantor against further Israeli encroachments, one of the two sources said.
The Kremlin said it did not expect Putin and Sharaa to hold a news conference after their talks.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Andrew Osborn in Moscow; Suleiman Al-Khalidi and by Ahmed Elimam and Tala Ramadan; writing by Andrew Osborn; editing by Mark Heinrich)
