Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa has requested Russian President Putin to hand over Bashar al-Assad.
The former Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, fled to Moscow last year after being ousted in a lightning rebel offensive that ended five decades of rule by the Assad family.
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa has requested Russia to hand over exiled leader Bashar al-Assad, according to a report by Reuters. The former Syrian president, a key Russian ally in the Middle East, fled to Moscow last year after being ousted in a rebel offensive that ended five decades of rule by the Assad family.
Syrian news agency Sana said Damascus also wanted Russia, which backed Bashar al-Assad in the country’s civil war, to rebuild trust through “concrete measures such as compensation, reconstruction and recovery”.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the visit came at a “crunch point” in Russia-Syria relations, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it an “important trip”.
“It is necessary to build and maintain a permanent dialogue with the Syrian authorities, which is what we will continue to do,” Peskov told reporters.
The Russian delegation was led by deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who is also Vladimir Putin’s special envoy on the Middle East and Africa, and met with Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Following recent discussions with a Russian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, Syria’s new administration has emphasised the importance of addressing past mistakes in restoring relations with Russia.
