Syria, Russia reassert ties with an eye on mutual benefits

The Soviet Union—and later Russia—has long been involved in Syrian decision-making, whether regarding politics, armaments, ideology and even education.  Moscow was the distant yet ever-present ally, competing with Washington for influence, giving Damascus the confidence of a global power's support and the latitude to manoeuvre between the two superpowers.

That relationship waned following the Soviet collapse and Russia's distractions elsewhere, only to be revived by the Syrian conflict. When Syrians rose up in 2011 demanding freedom, Putin perceived the revolution as a Western-engineered conspiracy. He chose to back Bashar al-Assad's regime as a guardian of Russian interests, state continuity and a reshaped international order.

Political backing evolved into Security Council vetoes, followed by military bases and airstrikes that changed the trajectory of the war and ensured Assad's survival. Syria was Russia's gateway to the Mediterranean and a strategic anchor for its influence in the Middle East and Africa.

Rising actors

Yet Moscow's loyalty was never blind. It recognised that Syria contained another indispensable actor—Recep Tayyip Erdoğan—and a rising force in the northwest whose presence could not be erased: Abu Muhammad al-Jolani.

There, a convoluted mesh of understandings took root—part conflict, part cooperation. From Astana to Sochi, from Moscow to Ankara, and from Idlib to Hmeimim, the region's geography was reshaped by a careful balance of competing foreign agendas and interests. Türkiye secured its frontiers, Russia solidified its bases, and Syria stood poised for a profound shift—Assad's fall and al-Sharaa's emergence.

Now, with Assad's regime no longer in power, Moscow and Damascus reopen diplomatic channels under a new figurehead. Al-Sharaa's presence at the Kremlin is not that of a guest but of a visionary—one intent on restoring Syria's position in the global balance of power through recalibrated strategy, not outdated alliances.

A matter of survival

The Syrian president understands that reviving ties with Moscow is not a matter of choice but of survival: to counterbalance American influence, curb Israeli incursions, restore Syria's lost diplomatic agency and recover its sovereign territory.

For Putin, Syria remains a valuable geopolitical lever—a bargaining chip in dealings with Israel, a counterweight to Türkiye and a strategic launch point for projecting power from the Mediterranean into Africa and beyond.

Thus, former adversaries meet again—not on battlefields but in the Kremlin; not through airstrikes but via dialogue; not in caves but around contracts. Syria seeks balance and protection; Russia pursues permanence and influence. Between them, memory converges with interest, and history with geography, as the Middle East is once again reshaped—through many gateways, with Damascus as one.