STG Engineering, a Russian company that operates Syria's Tartous commercial port, said on Friday that it was continuing to work as usual and that its contract had not been annulled as some media in the Middle East had suggested.

Although this was the first direct conversation between Putin and al-Sharaa, the interim Syrian leader had previously engaged with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and special presidential envoy Alexander Lavrentyev during a high-profile visit to Damascus in January.

Russia will likely keep a reduced military presence in Syria, achieving a key objective for President Vladimir Putin after the downfall of the Assad regime he backed, according to people familiar with the matter.

Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa held his first direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week in a call initiated by Moscow, signaling a shift in Syria-Russia relations following the ouster of Bashar Assad.

Russia is planning to hold high-level contacts with Syria in the near future, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

In a series of posts on an X account attributed to her, Syria’s former first lady Asma al-Assad wished the Syrian people safety and said she will not intervene in political issues in the future.

Russia's withdrawal from Syria and its shift toward Libya are important developments in terms of Mediterranean security. Following the collapse of the Assad regime and its expulsion from the country, Moscow seems to have shifted toward a strategy of reducing its military presence in Syria and protecting its interests in North Africa more strongly.

"We are primarily interested in understanding the essence of President Trump's new line," a former Russian envoy told Newsweek.

Shara’s unlikely path from membership in Al Qaeda to head of state has raised questions about how he intends to govern Syria.

Israel has already had a long history of passing on Russian weapons it captured off the numerous battlefields of the Middle East.

Seventeen countries in the United Nations General Assembly joined the U.S. on Monday in voting against a nonbinding resolution condemning Russia as the aggressor in the ongoing war in Ukraine —

It’s also a sign that Moscow is improving its relationship with new rulers of Syria, whose arch enemy Assad survived the Syrian civil war thanks to Russia’s unwavering support and is currently ...