Syria, Russia strike 3-month deal on Tartus and Hmeimim bases
What's new: Civilian facilities at both sites will go back to Damascus while the two bases shift to joint training centers.
Syria reached a deal with Russia on the future of the Tartus naval base and Hmeimim air base after 18 months of talks, recasting the facilities as joint training and capacity-building centers. Syria's foreign ministry, quoted by state news agency SANA on Aug. 9, said the memorandum gives the sides no more than three months to complete the transition. Until then, civilian facilities at both sites will be handed to Damascus. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani visited the bases, while civil aviation chief Omar al-Hasri said authorities were taking control of Latakia's international airport next to Hmeimim and assessing it for rehabilitation. Russia had used the bases to back Bashar al-Assad during Syria's civil war.