The new leader of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, stated in an interview with The New York Times that Russia refused to extradite former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
However, despite this, the Syrian authorities are open to negotiations about future cooperation with the Kremlin.
In January, Syrian officials approached the Kremlin with a request to extradite Assad as a condition for maintaining a military presence in Syria, but Russian authorities rejected this request, said al-Sharaa. This is the first public acknowledgment by the Syrian leadership, the publication notes.
Nevertheless, the Syrian authorities seem open to negotiations with the Kremlin. "Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council. Syria's weapons are entirely Russian. Moreover, there are numerous agreements in the fields of food and energy that Syria has relied on for many years," said al-Sharaa. "We must consider these Syrian interests." He emphasized that his country might need Russia's support, as Syria has not yet received offers from other countries for arms supplies.
The retention of Russia's naval base in Tartus and the Khmeimim airbase remains in question after Russia's refusal to extradite Assad.
The President of Syria stated that the country's authorities have annulled military presence agreements with other countries signed under Assad and are "in the process of developing new agreements" that guarantee "Syria's independence, the stability of its security, and that the presence of any country does not pose a threat or danger to other countries through Syrian territory."
To pull Syria's economy back from the brink, the new president must convince American and other Western officials, wary of his jihadist past, to lift sanctions. To prevent the country from returning to civil war, he needs military assistance to build a new army, which opens up opportunities for agreements with Russia. And to keep the government functioning and the country from falling into complete chaos, he needs foreign funding to pay civil servants' salaries, writes NYT.
Photo: The New York Times