Moscow is struggling to reach an agreement on maintaining its military bases in Syria, according to Bloomberg.

The new Syrian government does not support the continuation of Russia's military presence in the country. For the first time since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, a Russian delegation arrived for talks in Damascus. However, the situation is complicated for Moscow by Turkey's reluctance to maintain bases.

According to Bloomberg,

Russia is struggling to negotiate the retention of its bases, as a Kremlin source familiar with the situation revealed to the publication. He stated that talks with the new Syrian government have reached a deadlock.

On Tuesday, January 28, a Russian delegation arrived in Damascus, which included Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and President Putin's special representative for Syria, Alexander Lavrentyev, as reported by Russian media.

This marks the first visit of Russian officials to Damascus since the fall of Assad's regime.

Turkey, which supported the rebels, is opposed to the continuation of Russia's military presence in Syria. It is highly doubtful that the new government will allow Russia to remain at the bases after its military aircraft targeted opposition forces during the civil war, two senior Turkish officials told Bloomberg.

Putin backed Assad with troops and helped him avoid defeat in the war that began after the "Arab Spring." This was achieved, in part, through extensive bombing by the Russian army of Syrian cities controlled by the opposition.

When armed rebels unexpectedly advanced from Idlib province to Aleppo and then to Damascus at the end of November 2024, Russian aircraft initially also conducted strikes.

The opposition forces took a week and a half to reach Damascus and overthrow Assad's regime.

Two Russian transport ships waited several weeks before they were allowed to dock in Tartus to evacuate military equipment, a source told the agency.

This occurred after the director of the Tartus customs, Riyad Judy, reported that the new Syrian government terminated the contract with "Budtransgaz" regarding investments in the port from 2019 (the contract was for 49 years; the base was leased for the same period).

"After the cancellation of the 49-year lease agreement, it became clear to Russia that it could no longer hope to maintain a military presence in Tartus, and therefore, it seems there is no point in remaining there any longer and delaying evacuation," commented naval analyst Frederik Van Lockeren to the BBC.

Background. Recall that at the WEF 2025 economic forum in Davos, the Syrian Foreign Minister called for investment in Syria. He emphasized that the greatest challenge for Syria now is the sanctions inherited from Assad's regime.