Russia wants to reopen its embassy in Syria

Russian officials are working on a road map to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad’s government, sources familiar with the issue told Middle East Eye.
A Russian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Alexander Lavrentiev, the Kremlin's special envoy for Syria, visited Damascus on Tuesday and met with Syria’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Russia's foreign ministry said there had been a "frank discussion of the entire range of issues", while the Syrian side emphasised that restoring relations must address past mistakes and respect the will of the Syrian people.
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Sources familiar with the talks told MEE that Russia seeks to retain its naval base in Tartus and the Hmeimim airbase near the port city of Latakia, but Moscow believes other steps must be taken first before discussing such issues.
According to these sources, Moscow would like to reopen its embassy in Damascus, following the lead of other European and regional countries.
A Syrian source familiar with the talks said that Damascus asked the Russian delegation to return Assad to Syria and demanded compensation for the damage caused by Russia's military during the war.
The source said Russia refused to provide financial compensation.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the issue on Wednesday.
Russia was one of Assad's top backers during the war. Its intervention in 2015 appeared to have decisively swung the conflict in Assad's favour until a shock rebel offensive at the end of last year brought his family's 50-year rule to an end in 12 days.
At least 24,000 Syrian civilians were allegedly killed by Russian air strikes or in attacks it likely participated in, according to conflict monitor Airwars.
Assad and his family fled Syria for Moscow on 8 December. Russia said it had granted him asylum on humanitarian grounds.
Sources said one key request Moscow made to Syria's new rulers is that elements from Syrian opposition groups that have worked with Russia be included in the national dialogue conference, which is expected to bring disparate groups together in February to thrash out a political road map.
Two opposition groups, the Moscow Platform and the Cairo Platform, are seen as favourable to Moscow.
Both groups are seen as controversial within the mainstream Syrian political opposition. Established in 2014 to participate in peace talks, they were accused of diluting the opposition's message and failing to represent a supporter base.
The Moscow Platform is led by Qadri Jamil, the leader of the Popular Front for Change and Liberation.
In the past, both platforms sent four members to the Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC), which was tasked with drafting a new constitution for Syria before Assad's ouster.
An MEE correspondent in Istanbul has contributed to this report.
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