Syrian president hold talks with Putin in Moscow, as handover of Assad on agenda

MOSCOW

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and reportedly asked Russia to hand over former ruler Bashar al-Assad during his first visit to Moscow on Oct. 15.

It marked Sharaa's first visit to Russia since the December 2024 overthrow of longtime Syrian ruler and Russian ally Assad, who sought refuge in Moscow.

Ahead of the meeting, sources told media that Sharaa “will ask the Russian president to hand over all individuals who committed war crimes and are in Russia, most notably Assad."

Syria's state news agency SANA said Sharaa arrived in Russia on Oct. 15 for talks with Putin on “bilateral relations between the two countries and regional and international developments of common interest.”

The sources said that that Sharaa and Putin would also discuss "economic issues related to investment, the status of Russian bases in Syria and the issue of rearming the new Syrian military.”

Russia's naval base in Tartus and its air base at Hmeimim, both on Syria's Mediterranean coast, are Moscow's only official military outposts outside the former Soviet Union amid uncertainties on the bases after the Assad’s fall.

Sharaa was also supposed to participate in a Russian-Arab summit to be held on Oct. 15, but Moscow postponed it as many Arab leaders due to attend were involved in the implementation of the United States' ceasefire plan for the Gaza Strip, which went into effect on Oct. 10.

Among the 22 Arab heads of state invited to the Oct. 15 forum, only Sharaa and the head of the Arab League reportedly confirmed their attendance as of earlier this week.

Syria's new rulers have sought peaceful relations with Russia despite the latter's former alliance with Assad.

Following a Syrian-Russian delegation meeting earlier this year, sources said that Damascus’s new leadership had demanded the extradition of Assad in exchange for allowing Russia to maintain its military presence at bases in Syria.

In an interview with CBS News this week, Sharaa said his government would "pursue every legal avenue" to bring Assad to justice.