Why is Syria’s president Ahmed al-Sharaa visiting Russia?

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited Moscow on Wednesday to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in his first visit to Russia since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024.

The trip, announced by Syria’s official news agency SANA, aims to reorganise bilateral relations and discuss cooperation in the political, economic, and military spheres, despite the key backing Russia gave to the Assad throughout the Syrian conflict.

Russia intervened militarily on Assad's side in September 2015.  

Reuters quoted a Syrian government source as saying that Sharaa will also request the extradition of Assad, who fled to Russia after he was overthrown, to stand trial in Damascus for crimes committed against Syrians.

Talks will include the future of Russia’s naval base in Tartous and its airbase in Hmeimim.

A new era after Assad

The visit marks the highest-level contact between Syria and Russia since the collapse of Assad’s rule and comes as Damascus seeks to redefine its foreign relations under new leadership.

Sharaa’s government has presented itself as pragmatic, determined to rebuild international legitimacy while avoiding confrontation with former allies of the Assad regime.

Since taking office, he has spoken of a “balanced diplomacy” that protects Syria’s sovereignty while engaging both countries formerly allied with Assad and new partners.

This latest trip follows a series of exchanges between Moscow and Damascus.

In July, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Defence Minister Marhaf Abu Qasra travelled to Moscow, meeting their Russian counterparts Sergey Lavrov and Andrei Belousov.

At the time, al-Shibani described the relationship as entering "a critical and historic turning point", emphasising mutual respect and cooperation on transitional justice and reconstruction.

Lavrov has since stated that Russia "would not insist" on maintaining its bases in Syria if the new government requested a withdrawal, signalling flexibility amid uncertainty about Russia’s long-term influence.

The agenda in Moscow

According to the Syrian presidency, Sharaa’s delegation will include senior foreign, defence, and economic officials. The visit will focus on revising old agreements signed under Assad, exploring investment opportunities, and determining the legal and strategic future of Russia’s military installations.

The Kremlin has not commented on Damascus’s reported request for Assad’s extradition, though Russian officials have dismissed rumours that the deposed dictator is suffering from serious health problems in exile.

Tartous and Hmeimim remain at the centre of Syria–Russia relations. The Tartous naval base, Russia’s only port on the Mediterranean, and the Hmeimim airbase near Latakia were granted under open-ended leases by Assad.

Sharaa’s administration has already annulled several contracts that offered Russia sweeping privileges, insisting that any continued presence operate under full Syrian oversight. The question now is whether Moscow will agree to reduced control in exchange for continued access.

From war patron to partner

Russia’s intervention in 2015 was decisive in preserving Assad’s regime, transforming Moscow into one of Damascus’s dominant foreign patrons, alongside Iran.

The meeting between Sharaa and Putin is particularly intriguing given the Syrian president’s roots in Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the faction that fought fierce battles against Assad's Russian-backed forces during the war.

Russian aircraft bombed HTS-held areas for years, making Moscow one of the group’s main adversaries at the time of Sharaa’s rise to power.

It also carried out numerous war crimes in Syria, including deliberately targeting civilian areas and infrastructure including hospitals and schools. 

Despite this, since Assad’s ousting, Russian officials have repeatedly visited Syria to assess reconstruction projects and discuss the future of their military footprint.

Relations have evolved. Damascus is obviously no longer wholly dependent on Moscow, and Sharaa’s government has sought to diversify its partnerships - Sharaa could seek to maintain Russia as a core security ally.

A senior Syrian source told SANA that al-Sharaa will also discuss "rearming the new Syrian army", suggesting that military coordination could become central. Much of the Syrian army's equipment is Russian and thus requires technology from Moscow. 

Russia, for its part, continues to see Syria as a vital strategic outpost in the Middle East, but the balance of power has shifted: Moscow’s influence is now tempered by its own international isolation and by post-Assad Syria's desire to chart its own path.

For Sharaa, the challenge lies in asserting sovereignty without alienating powerful allies. Syria depends on Russian fuel, grain, and weaponry, while Moscow’s UN Security Council veto remains an essential diplomatic shield.

At the same time, Damascus has opened channels with the Gulf states, Turkey, and Western governments eager to counter Iranian influence. Some analysts believe that Sharaa could be using the spectre off deepening ties with Russia to encourage the US to remove all remaining sanctions and take part in the reconstruction of Syria.