Putin - Sharaa The meeting that angered everyone!

A Disappointing Visit

President Ahmad Al-Sharaa’s visit to Russia on October 15 sparked outrage across multiple, often contradictory fronts. Among the critics were Kremlin-aligned social media accounts, which viewed the visit as a betrayal. Russia’s decade-long military campaign in Syria was officially aimed at eliminating “terrorism”—a label it applied to all armed Syrian revolutionary factions from day one—and defending its allied regime. These accounts considered the meeting a betrayal of Russian soldiers who died in Syria and saw it as nothing more than post-defeat negotiations following Russia’s first military loss since Putin assumed power.

The visit also stirred feelings of betrayal among former loyalists of the Syrian regime, who had hoped Russia would support autonomy or self-rule for Alawite regions after Assad’s fall. Their social media accounts accused the Russian president of betrayal, blaming him for preventing the Syrian army from resisting and fighting the revolutionaries, which led to the regime’s collapse.

Ukrainian social media accounts also expressed discontent. Ukraine had been among the first to congratulate Syria on its victory over Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies. President Zelensky recently reestablished diplomatic ties with Syria following a warm meeting with President Al-Sharaa in New York during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Among the most outraged were supporters of the Syrian revolution, who endured ten years of scorched-earth tactics by Russian airstrikes that killed thousands of civilians and destroyed entire neighborhoods in Aleppo, Eastern Ghouta, and Idlib. The Syrian Network for Human Rights documented that Russia surpassed ISIS in the number of Syrian civilian killings.

Russian Bases on the Mediterranean Coast

The two presidents discussed shared interests, most notably Russia’s military bases in Syria. This was Al-Sharaa’s first visit to Moscow since toppling Bashar al-Assad—Russia’s ally—in a military operation on December 8 of last year.

Russia leases two bases on Syria’s coast: an airbase in Latakia and a naval base in Tartus, both for 49 years. It also maintains a base at Qamishli Airport, located in areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Russia expressed interest in retaining these bases after Assad’s fall.

President Al-Sharaa showed openness to keeping the Russian bases under certain conditions, despite European and American demands for the new Syrian government to shut them down. Syrian revolution supporters remain angry over Russia’s military crimes in Syria, committed to protect its former ally Assad—who now resides in Moscow under humanitarian asylum.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov previously stated that the bases could be used to deliver “humanitarian aid” to Africa. His remarks suggest that the bases no longer serve a military purpose after Assad’s defeat and Russia’s loss in the Syrian conflict, despite earlier boasts of testing over 200 new weapons in Syria.

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Syria Needs Balanced Relations

Despite the wave of disappointment and accusations from all sides, political realism calls for rebuilding Syrian-Russian relations in a more balanced way, away from the international polarization caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

President Ahmad Al-Sharaa acknowledged Syria’s inability to ignore its historical ties with Russia. He expressed understanding of Russian interests on several occasions and affirmed his respect for all agreements between the two countries. He also demanded the extradition of the fallen regime’s president to stand trial in Syrian courts—a request Russian officials have repeatedly rejected.

This time, relations were divided into military, political, and economic dimensions. Observers did not rule out the possibility that Al-Sharaa might request Russian air defense systems to help curb escalating Israeli attacks since Assad’s fall, repair existing Russian equipment, or even deploy military police along the Syrian-Israeli border to prevent daily Israeli incursions.

On October 29, Syrian Defense Minister Marhaf Abu Qasra met with his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov in Moscow, reinforcing this possibility.

Syria also remains bound by oil and wheat contracts with Russia dating back to the Assad era, with Syrian ports continuing to receive regular shipments of both commodities.

Politically, Syria needs Russia’s veto power in the UN Security Council to lift international sanctions on the president and some government officials, or to block future sanctions if necessary. Syrians still remember the bitterness of 14 Russian vetoes that shielded Assad from even symbolic international condemnation over 14 years of documented crimes.

Syria news report