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Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday refused to comment on emerging reports that claim Syria’s new government asked Moscow for Bashar Assad’s extradition in return for Russia keeping its military bases in the country.
“I will leave this without any comments. We will continue further dialogue with the Syrian authorities,” Peskov told reporters Wednesday.
His no-comment comments follow Russian officials traveling to Damascus on Tuesday in the first such visit since Assad’s regime was toppled in December.
According to a Reuters report, Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (previously known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Jolani) asked Russia to hand over the ousted dictator Assad, who fled Syria and was granted asylum in Russia last month, according to Russian state media.
Syria’s state news agency SANA also reported that al-Sharaa urged Russia to “rebuild trust with Syrian people” through concrete measures such as “compensation, reconstruction and recovery.”
Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s forces were instrumental in propping up the Syrian regime for years, with Moscow’s heavy bombing campaigns originally helping to turn the tide of a brutal civil war — which killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians — in Assad’s favor.
Russia operates two strategically important military bases in Syria which it had maintained to further project its influence across the Middle East and Africa.
After Assad’s fall, satellite footage showed that Russia was evacuating its military equipment from Syrian military bases toward Libya. Last week, Syria canceled the Russian Navy’s 49-year long lease on the port of Tartus brokered under Assad.
Lucia Mackenzie contributed graphics.
