Syria’s Shara meets Putin in Moscow for the first time since Assad’s fall

Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Shara held his first talks with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow since the ouster of Russia’s ally Bashar al-Assad 10 months ago.

Putin spoke of the “special relationship” between the two countries.

Sharaa suggested he would continue to allow Russia access to its military bases in Syria.

He was also expected to demand the extradition of Assad, who was granted asylum after fleeing to Moscow.

For years they were enemies, on opposite sides in a bloody civil war.

Putin used brutal military force to prop up Bashar al-Assad. And Shara’s Islamist militant group led the rebel offensive that eventually forced Assad to step down.

But on Wednesday, Russian and Syrian leaders sat down together for the first time, putting pragmatism ahead of past enmity.

“Over the past decades, our countries have built a special relationship,” Putin said.

He added that there were “quite interesting and useful undertakings” on the agenda of their talks and that Russia was ready “to do everything to fulfill them”.

Shara said he wanted Syria to restore its relations with all countries, but “most of all with Russia”.

“We are trying to restore and redefine the nature of that relationship so that there is an independent Syria, a sovereign Syria, as well as its territorial unity and security integrity and stability.”

These were warm words from two men looking for a good working relationship.

Russia wants to continue to have access to its Tartus naval port and Hmeimim air base on Syria’s Mediterranean coast.

Sharaa suggested he would allow that, saying Syria would “respect all agreements made throughout the great history” of their bilateral relationship.

In turn, he wants help consolidating his power in Syria, securing its borders and saving its ailing economy with access to Russian energy and investment.

Russian ministers said they were ready to deliver food and medicine to Syria and help repair damaged energy and transport infrastructure.

But amid the smiles, the tension remains.

Syrian sources said Sharaa would ask for Assad to be extradited so the exiled leader could stand trial for war crimes. Russia is considered unlikely to agree.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters that Russia granted asylum to Assad because he and his family were “facing the risk of physical destruction.”