Syria announces plans to convert Russian military bases into joint training centers
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Syria announced plans to reorganize Russian military bases and establish new joint training centers for the two nations on Aug. 9.
A memorandum of understanding was reached after 18 months of negotiation, according to the Syrian state news agency SANA, outlining the future of Russian bases at Tartus and Khmeimim on the Syrian coast.
Established during the Soviet period, the sites remain Russia's only military bases outside the former Soviet Union.
Under the new agreement, Syria will take over civilian facilities at the bases including the Khmeimim airport and commercial docks at the Tartus port. Military facilities at the bases will be converted into joint training sites and qualification centers "aimed at safeguarding the interests of both countries," SANA reported, citing the Syrian Foreign Ministry.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry says the agreement "opens the way for a new phase in Syrian-Russian relations" following Moscow's support of deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the nation’s devastating civil war. Al-Assad has been living in Russia since 2024, when rebels toppled his regime.
The Kremlin has not yet commented on the agreement.
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Between 2015 and 2024, Russian forces killed up to 6,500 Syrian civilians through bombing campaigns and airstrikes, according to the civilian harm watchdog organization Airwars.
After a six-month pause following the ousting of al-Assad, Russia resumed military flights to Syria in October 2025 amid a push to bolster its military presence in the Mediterranean. In January 2026, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Moscow to negotiate the future of the bases and the possible transfer of al-Assad to Syria.
The visit marked al-Sharaa's second trip to Moscow since the fall of Assad, as Putin sought to strengthen ties with Syria's new leadership in order to retain control over its military bases.
President Volodymyr Zelensky also traveled to Syria in April 2026 as part of a string of visits to the Middle East in the wake of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Meeting with al-Sharaa, Zelensky said the two discussed regional developments linked to Iran, economic cooperation, and infrastructure and energy projects.
"Ukraine was among the first to support a new Syria after the fall of the Assad regime," Zelensky said after the visit.
"We are ready to continue supporting stability and development. We will work even more closely together so that our peoples and our countries become stronger, and so that our economies can grow stronger as well."
