Damascus takes over civilian side of Russian bases in Syria
After 18 months of talks, Damascus and Moscow signed a memorandum putting Hmeimim airport and the fourth pier at Tartus under Syrian control, turning Russia's Syrian bases into joint training centers.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday, August 9, 2026, through the state news agency SANA, that Damascus and Moscow have reached a memorandum of understanding on the future of Russian facilities in Hmeimim and Tartus, the only Russian military bases outside the territory of the former Soviet Union. For Belgrade, which has measured its own foreign policy against its ties to Moscow and Brussels for years, this is not a distant story from the other side of the Mediterranean: the scale of Russia’s military footprint beyond its own borders is one of the few measures by which Russia’s real reach can be checked against numbers rather than statements.
Under the memorandum, the Syrian state takes over management of the facilities used for civilian purposes, namely the Hmeimim airport and the fourth commercial berth at the port of Tartus. According to the ministry, these are being gradually folded into Syria’s civilian administrative system. The military facilities are changing function as well, turning from bases into joint training and qualification centers under arrangements meant to protect the interests of both sides. The deadline for carrying this out is set at three months from the announcement, and the new rules take effect only once the handover is complete.
The Media and Communications Department at Syria’s foreign ministry described the deal as the biggest step forward since the talks began:
A memorandum of understanding on the future of Russian facilities in Hmeimim and Tartus has been reached after roughly 18 months of negotiations.
The same statement adds that “the agreement opens the way to a new phase in Syrian-Russian relations.” Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani toured Latakia’s international airport and the port of Tartus that same day to inspect the facilities covered by the memorandum. Syria’s General Directorate of Civil Aviation and Air Transport took over management of Latakia airport on Sunday and announced technical and operational steps to restore it and reopen it for flights.
What Damascus gains right away
First, the port and the airport as infrastructure rather than as military facilities under foreign control. The fourth berth at Tartus and the runway at Latakia are the points through which cargo and passenger traffic flow, and returning them to civilian management is a precondition for reconnecting Syria’s coast with the rest of the region.
Second, Damascus gets a formal document confirming that decisions on the status of foreign military facilities on Syrian territory are made in the Syrian capital. The message is aimed both inward and outward, at a moment when the new authorities are trying to show they control the entire country.
From 49 years to three months
Russia’s naval presence at Tartus dates back to 1971, from the Soviet era, when the site began operating as a logistics support point. Hmeimim was set up in 2015 near Latakia as the hub of Russian air operations during the intervention on behalf of Bashar al-Assad. In 2017 the two locations were given a formal framework with a 49 year term and an option to extend.
That term has now, in practice, been replaced by a three month deadline. Between those two numbers lie Assad’s overthrow in December 2024, a proposal from Russia’s Foreign Ministry in January 2025 to turn the bases into “humanitarian centers,” and two visits by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to Moscow, the first on October 15, 2025, the second in January of this year, when the base agreements were also discussed.
What the statement leaves out
The Syrian text does not say how many Russian troops remain in the country, what exactly the joint centers will do, how long the arrangement lasts, or whether it fully replaces earlier agreements on Russia’s military presence. Moscow has not officially commented on the deal.
That is why the real scope of the change can only be measured once the deadline passes. If the handover goes according to plan, by early November Russia will no longer have a base on the Mediterranean in the full sense of the word, only a presence that depends on its host’s consent. The difference between the two becomes visible the first time it is tested, and that test comes due in early November.
