Syrian Foreign Ministry: Russia has relinquished control over military bases in Tartus and Khmeimim

The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially announced the signing of a memorandum of intent with Russia defining the status of Russian military bases in Tartus and Khmeimim. Negotiations on this issue lasted a year and a half.

According to the agreement, civilian infrastructure, namely the fourth berth of the Tartus port and the Khmeimim airport, will be transferred to Syrian control. Russian military facilities will be converted into joint training centers, according to the SANA news agency. Thus, Russia will lose control of the bases but will retain a military presence in Syria.

The transfer of the facilities is expected to be completed within three months, according to official Damascus. “The agreement opens a new chapter in Syrian-Russian relations,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

A logistics center for the Soviet Navy was established in Tartus in 1971. According to a 2015 agreement between Russia and Syria, Russian military contingents were deployed here, as well as at the Khmeimim airbase, to fight in the civil war on the side of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

After the overthrow of the pro-Russian president, an Islamist armed opposition hostile to Russia came to power. However, the new leadership has demonstrated a willingness to engage in dialogue with Moscow.