Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks on Wednesday with interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who arrives in Moscow for another working visit.
The parties plan to discuss the state and prospects of bilateral relations in various areas, as well as the current situation in the Middle East, the Kremlin reported earlier.
The Syrian leader's previous visit to Moscow took place a little more than three months ago - on October 15, 2025, he met with Putin in the Kremlin. This was al-Sharaa's first visit to Russia and the first personal contact between the two leaders at the highest level since the change of power in Syria.
Putin and al-Sharaa then discussed the state and prospects for the development of Russian-Syrian relations in the political, trade-economic and humanitarian spheres. The situation in the Middle East was also discussed. Later, the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, reported that the topic of Russian military bases in Syria was also on the agenda.
After the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak reported that the parties had discussed specific projects in the fields of energy and transport, tourism development, healthcare, and cultural and humanitarian issues. He added that humanitarian supplies to Syria had also been discussed. These issues will be discussed, the deputy prime minister announced at the time, adding that Damascus is interested in supplies of wheat, food and medicine.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said in October that Damascus is discussing a review of previous agreements with Moscow, but no new ones have yet been reached. Speaking about the Russian bases in Syria, he stressed that this is the subject of negotiations between the two countries.
At the end of the year, al-Shibani met with the Russian president in Moscow. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced this on December 24, noting that the Syrian side had expressed a desire to deepen ties. The Kremlin did not comment on whether the fate of the Russian military bases was discussed at this meeting, RIA Novosti reports.