Syria and Russia agreed on reorganizing Russia's military presence in the country

Syria and Russia have signed a memorandum of understanding on reorganizing the Kremlin’s military presence on the Syrian coast, including transferring civilian facilities under Syrian state administration and converting Russian military bases into joint training centers. This was reported by SANA citing the Syrian Foreign Ministry.

According to a spokesperson for the foreign policy department’s communications division, the agreement regulates the future status of Russian facilities in Hmeimim and Tartus and is the result of about a year and a half of intensive negotiations conducted under the leadership of the Syrian Foreign Ministry.

Under the memorandum, Syria will take over management of facilities designated for civilian use, including the Hmeimim airport and Tartus port’s fourth commercial quay, allowing them to gradually integrate into the country’s civilian infrastructure.

It is noted that the parties also agreed to review the use of facilities that presently have military purposes, and Russian military bases will be transformed into joint training and qualification centers under the new arrangements.

According to the ministry, the memorandum provides for completing the transfer of facilities within three months, after which the new agreements will take effect.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry called the agreement the most important event since the start of negotiations about 18 months ago, stating that it opens the way to a new stage in relations between the two countries.

As BAGNET reported, the new government in Syria, with Turkish support, opposed maintaining the Russian military presence in the country.

Since 2025 year, Russia has sought to preserve bases in Syria, but its protection offered to former dictator Bashar al-Assad weakened its position in negotiations.