DAMASCUS: Syria said on Sunday that it reached a deal with Moscow on the fate of Russia's two bases in the country, which it once used to provide military support to ousted leader Bashar al Assad during the Syrian civil war. Syria's official SANA news agency quoted the foreign ministry as saying that Hmeimim airbase and Tartus naval base, Russia's only two official military bases outside the former Soviet Union, would be turned into "joint training and capacity-building centres, within new arrangements that preserve mutual interests". The memorandum of understanding, which followed a year and a half of negotiations, "set a time limit of no more than three months to complete the process", SANA added.
In the meantime, civilian facilities at both bases will be handed over to Damascus. Both the Hmeimim and Tartus bases had remained operational while talks were ongoing. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al Shaibani visited the sites on Sunday "to inspect the facilities and installations included in the historic memorandum of understanding", according to SANA. Syria has expressed a willingness to cooperate with Moscow, and President Ahmed al Sharaa has been received by Putin in Moscow twice since taking over. — AFP
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