Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Syrian counterpart, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in the Kremlin on Wednesday for talks that were set to include the sensitive issue of Russia's future military presence in Syria, sources on both sides said.
Reuters reported this week that Russia was withdrawing forces from Qamishli airport in northeast Syria, although it was expected to maintain its larger Hmeimim air base and Tartous naval facility on Syria's Mediterranean coast.
A Syrian foreign ministry source said the move by Moscow was interpreted in Damascus as a gesture aimed at building goodwill and signaling that Russia would not be drawn into fighting between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces as Sharaa attempts to assert central authority over the entire country.
Putin praised Syrian al-Sharaa on Wednesday for increasing momentum towards restoring the territorial integrity of the Arab Republic after Syrian troops took swathes of territory from Kurdish forces.
"I want to congratulate you on the fact that the process of restoring the territorial integrity of Syria is gaining momentum," Putin told al-Sharaa in the Kremlin.
Sharaa, who is making his second visit to Russia since ousting long-time Moscow ally Bashar al-Assad in 2024, thanked Putin for help in stabilizing the situation in Syria and the wider region.
Conversation comes one day after al-Sharaa's conversation with Trump
Al-Sharaa spoke with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday. The call came as the US seeks to make sure a ceasefire in eastern Syria continues to keep the peace between the Syrian government and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
The SDF is a largely Kurdish-led group that the US supported since 2015 in the war on ISIS.
The US is currently transferring ISIS detainees to Iraq and wants this to go smoothly.