Russian Envoys Arrive in Syria for First Time Since al-Assad Fell

A top Russian delegation arrived in Damascus on Tuesday for the first time since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government last month, as Russia looks to negotiate the future of its military bases in Syria with the country’s new leadership.

Among the diplomats to arrive in the Syrian capital on Tuesday were Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, who oversees Middle Eastern affairs, and the special presidential envoy to Syria, Aleksandr Lavrentiev, the Russian state news agency TASS reported.

The Syrian rebels who toppled Mr. al-Assad last month fought for years against government forces backed by Russia, but their interim leader has suggested he wants to continue Syria’s relationship with Moscow, given the historical linkages and overlapping geopolitical interests.

Ahmed al-Shara, the leader of the rebel coalition that ousted Mr. Assad, called Russia “an important country” in an interview with the Saudi Arabian state television channel Al Arabiya last month. He said he did not want Russia to leave Syria “in the way that some wish.”

“We don’t want Russia to exit Syria in a way that undermines its relationship with our country,” Mr. al-Shara said, noting that Syria depended on Russia for all its weapons and to manage many of its power plants.

Mr. al-Shara’s Islamist rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has been branded a terrorist organization by both Russia and the United States. But leaders from Moscow and the West have reached out to him, amid a broader scramble for geopolitical influence in postwar Syria.