Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is set to meet with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday, in his first official visit to Russia since the overthrow of Moscow’s longtime ally Bashar al-Assad.
Al-Sharaa is expected to seek a reset in relations and discuss prospects for political and economic cooperation, according to Syrian state media. The Kremlin, confirming the meeting, said that Putin and the Syrian president will also discuss humanitarian issues.
A Syrian government official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the talks would include discussions on rearming Syria’s military and the status of Russia’s bases in the country.
Al-Sharaa also plans to formally request that Moscow hand over Assad for trial over alleged crimes against Syrians, a source told Reuters. Earlier this week, the news agency reported that Syria’s authoritarian government carried out a secret operation to move tens of thousands of bodies from an exposed mass grave to a hidden site in the desert east of Damascus.
Al-Sharaa, a former leader of the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda, led rebel forces into Damascus in December 2024 and formed a new government after Assad fled the capital. Russia later granted the ousted leader asylum.
Since Assad’s fall, the new government in Syria has sought to maintain stable relations with Moscow despite Russia’s earlier support for the Assad regime. In July, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani became the first senior official of the new administration to visit Russia.
Russia’s naval facility in Tartus and its air base at Hmeimim — Moscow’s only military outposts outside the former Soviet Union — remain central to discussions over the future of bilateral ties.
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