Syria’s New Leader Visits Moscow, Seeks to “Redefine” Ties as Putin Eyes Continued Military Presence

Key Facts

Published: October 16, 2025 Location: Moscow Source: AP, Wire Services

• Syrian interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa meets Vladimir Putin in first Moscow visit since ousting Bashar al-Assad.
• Talks focus on redefining bilateral ties and the future of Russian military bases in Syria.
• Moscow granted Assad asylum, citing “humanitarian grounds.”
• Russia aims to retain its Mediterranean outposts as Syria seeks reconstruction aid and stability.

by Emmitt Barry, with reporting from Worthy News Jerusalem Bureau Staff

(Worthy News) – Syria’s interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa held his first official talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Wednesday, signaling a new phase in relations between Moscow and Damascus less than a year after Sharaa’s rebel forces ousted former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad — a longtime ally of Russia.

Putin praised the “special relationship” between the two nations and expressed hope that their historic ties would expand. The meeting marked Moscow’s latest bid to maintain influence in Syria and secure its military foothold along the Mediterranean coast, where Russia continues to operate its naval and air bases at Tartous and Hmeimim.

Sharaa, who led last year’s swift offensive that ended Assad’s two-decade rule, said he sought to “restore and redefine” relations with Russia on the basis of Syrian sovereignty and stability. “We respect all previous agreements and this great history, and we are trying to restore and redefine in a new way the nature of these relations,” he said.

Although Russia refrained from intervening when Assad fell, it granted him asylum, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov saying this week that Assad and his family “faced the risk of physical extermination.” Lavrov dismissed reports that Assad had been poisoned, insisting that the exiled leader “has had no problems living in our capital.”

Despite years of fighting on opposite sides of the civil war, both leaders struck a pragmatic tone. Sharaa emphasized Syria’s dependence on Russian technology and energy expertise and hinted that Moscow could retain access to its coastal bases. Putin, for his part, called Syria’s recent parliamentary elections a “big success” and pledged continued aid in rebuilding infrastructure and delivering food and medicine.

According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the future of Russia’s military installations was discussed during the talks. Sharaa is also expected to seek Assad’s extradition for trial, though analysts say Moscow is unlikely to comply.

For Russia, maintaining its Syrian bases—the only such outposts outside the former Soviet Union—is seen as vital to sustaining its presence in the Mediterranean and bolstering its regional clout. For Syria’s new leadership, cooperation with Moscow offers crucial resources to rebuild the war-torn nation and diversify its foreign ties beyond Western influence.

In an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes, Sharaa said Damascus would “use all available legal means” to bring Assad to justice. Meanwhile, Putin postponed this week’s planned Russia-Arab summit to avoid disrupting the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza.

Some prophecy watchers see the dramatic realignment between Syria and Russia as a potential echo of end-times passages found in Ezekiel 38–39, Isaiah 17, and Jeremiah 49. The renewed Russian foothold in Damascus — long viewed as a prophetic flashpoint — raises speculation about the role of the “northern nations” described in Scripture that move against Israel in the last days. The survival of Damascus, often linked to Isaiah’s warning that the city would one day become “a ruinous heap,” continues to capture the attention of those who see today’s geopolitical shifts as aligning with ancient prophetic patterns — where alliances, power struggles, and judgments in the Middle East set the stage for events leading toward the final fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

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