Moscow struggles to reach an agreement on the preservation of Russian bases in Syria, according to Bloomberg.

The new Syrian government is not in favor of maintaining Russia's military presence in the country. For the first time since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, a Russian delegation flew to Damascus for talks. However, the situation is complicated for Moscow due to Turkey's opposition to the retention of military bases.

Source. This is reported by Bloomberg.

Russia is struggling to negotiate the retention of its bases, a source familiar with the situation in Moscow told the publication. According to them, talks with the new Syrian government have reached an impasse.

On Tuesday, a Russian delegation arrived in Damascus, including Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and the Russian president's special representative for Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, as reported by Russian media.

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

Turkey, which supported the rebels, is against maintaining Russia's military presence in Syria. It is highly unlikely that the new government will permit Russia to remain at its bases after its military aircraft conducted strikes against opposition forces during the civil war, said two senior Turkish officials to Bloomberg.

Putin supported Assad with troops and helped him avoid losing the war that began after the "Arab Spring." This was achieved, in part, through extensive bombings by the Russian military of Syrian cities under opposition control.

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

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, the agency's source revealed.

This occurred after the director of the Tartus customs, Riyad Judy, announced that the new Syrian government terminated the contract with "Budtransgaz" regarding investments in the port from 2019 (it was signed 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 longer any point in staying there and delaying evacuation," commented naval analyst Frederik Van Loceren to the BBC.

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