Standing on the gates of the Khmeimim airbase, a fighter from the Islamist insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) eyed a pink vape being puffed on by a Russian soldier. Catching his gaze, the soldier supplied it to him. The bearded fighter took a drag and shrugged, giving a thumbs as much as the Russian soldier, who let him hold it.
Simply over every week in the past, Russian jets taking off from Khmeimim airbase have been heading to northern Syria to drop bombs on insurgent teams. This week, Russians are negotiating with the identical factions, now answerable for the nation after their 12-day lightning offensive that toppled the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.
“We don’t really feel unsafe, we hope to make pleasant relations with the brand new authorities as quickly because it turns into a official authorities,” stated a consultant of the Russian navy, who allowed the Guardian uncommon entry to the Khmeimim airbase on Sunday. The consultant stated communications with HTS began every week in the past to coordinate navy affairs between Russian forces in Syria and the nation’s new leaders.
“Neither facet is making provocations and issues have been advantageous,” the Russian navy consultant stated, as he gestured to containers of humanitarian assist and Russian ministry of defence-branded backpacks, which they stated have been a present from Russia to the Syrian individuals.
HTS fighters guarded the gates of the airbase as Russian Mig fighter jets took off. “We was once scared at any time when we’d hear the sound of a Russian jet – now it’s change into regular,” Abu Khalil, a 26-year-old HTS fighter guarding the airbase stated. Exterior, Russian troopers nonetheless milled concerning the city of Khmeimim, purchasing at shops whose indicators have been written in Cyrillic.
Russian forces first entered Syria in 2015 when Assad requested their navy help in opposition to opposition forces, which he had been preventing since Syria’s 2011 revolution. Now their presence in Syria has been referred to as into query because the opposition take the reins of energy.
The EU international affairs chief, Kaja Kallas, stated on Monday that Russia and Iran “mustn’t have a spot” in Syria, and stated the bloc would increase the difficulty of Russian navy bases with the nation’s new management.
HTS and Russia are on the “first step” of negotiations over if and the way Russia will keep its navy bases in post-Assad Syria, an HTS official conversant in the talks advised the Guardian. Each side described the environment of the negotiations as optimistic.
Although the HTS official acknowledged Russia’s function in “bombing harmless civilians” in Syria since 2015, it appeared the insurgent group was taking a realistic strategy in the direction of its relations with international powers. The HTS official stated there can be “no purple strains” in negotiations with the Russians, which might be based mostly on “strategic pursuits, not ideology”.
Moscow and HTS have each made their opening strikes: Moscow supplied humanitarian assist to Syria, which is mired in an financial and humanitarian disaster. This was refused, as HTS felt it had a number of international donors already beating on its door.
In his first public feedback since he was pressured from energy, Assad stated on Monday that his first cease after fleeing Damascus was the Khmeimim airbase, the place he claimed to have overseen fight operations between fleeing to Moscow.
The HTS official stated the brand new Syrian authorities would search the extradition of Assad, or ask him to be turned over to the worldwide felony courtroom. They added that they weren’t optimistic that Russia would grant both request.
The first purpose of HTS seems to be establishing good financial and political relations with Russia and different worldwide powers, which the HTS official stated would confer legitimacy on the brand new insurgent authorities. The official cited the hasty pullout of US forces from Afghanistan in 2021 as a lesson on what the group wished to keep away from with Russia.
To that finish, HTS has supplied safety for Russian forces over the previous few days as they moved automobiles and personnel from the T4 airbase in Homs, central Syria, to Khmeimim airbase and Tartous port. Columns of Russian armoured personnel carriers, tanks and pickup vans with the Russian flag waving and a big “Z” painted on the edges have stuffed Syria’s highways for the previous two days, escorted by HTS fighters.
The Russian navy consultant confirmed that the T4 airbase in Homs had been utterly emptied out of personnel and gear by Saturday, in coordination with HTS. The consultant added that troops weren’t withdrawing from Syria however simply repositioning, whereas they waited for Russia’s presidency to decide about what to do subsequent.
Residing situations within the besieged T4 base had change into dire within the final week, with refuse build up and meals provides rising low, in response to the HTS official – allegations on which the Russian consultant didn’t remark.
Khmeimim airbase and Tartous port are actually the one energetic Russian bases in Syria – a far cry from the huge navy footprint Moscow maintained within the nation underneath Assad.
The query of Tartous appeared simpler to resolve than the airbase, because the HTS official stated the group was open to permitting the Russians to take care of their management over the port, citing worldwide regulation as a complication for cancelling the 49-year lease of the naval facility – even when it was signed with the now deposed Assad regime.
Whether or not the Syrian individuals would settle for a continued Russian presence within the nation after years of Russian jets bombing individuals in rebel-held territory was one other query. “This isn’t a peaceable nation, go have a look at Idlib and the liberated areas, they’re all destroyed,” Abo Khalil stated, gesturing on the Russian jets taking off from Khmeimim airbase.
HTS, on its half, appears prepared to show the web page on the bloody previous of the Syrian civil conflict and give attention to pulling Syria out of its depressing humanitarian state.
“We’re pressured to restore relations, the nation is lifeless, individuals are very poor. Individuals are making an attempt onerous to cease the bloodshed, they wish to construct a brand new life and transfer ahead,” the HTS official stated.
Ziad Taweel, the top of the Latakia worldwide airport that borders the Russian airbase, stated HTS had instructed him to return to work and get the civilian airport again on-line, however he had solely been granted approval by the Russians to return on Sunday. The final civilian flight from the airport was nearly two weeks in the past and the outside of the airport was affected by deserted military automobiles and containers of weaponry, although the inside was left untouched.
As Taweel inspected the airport, escorted by balaclava-wearing Russian commandos, an HTS fighter and a soldier joked. The HTS fighter, gazing at Russian Mrap navy automobiles and planes, made positive to take some selfies with the Russian navy officers, earlier than strolling off the bottom in the direction of his colleagues.
Supply hyperlink
