MOSCOW, Jan 29, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A high-level Russian delegation in Syria 
expressed support for the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity 
following the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Moscow's foreign ministry said 
Wednesday.

The former Syrian president, a key Russian ally in the Middle East, fled to 
Moscow last year after being ousted in a lightning rebel offensive that ended 
five decades of rule by the Assad family.

Russia sent its first high-level delegation to the war-torn country on 
Tuesday, with Moscow keen to retain two military bases in Syria.

"The Russian side reaffirmed its unwavering support for the unity, 
territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic," Russia's 
foreign ministry said in a statement.

It said the visit came at a "crunch point" in Russia-Syria relations, while 
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it an "important trip".

"It is necessary to build and maintain a permanent dialogue with the Syrian 
authorities, which is what we will continue to do," Peskov told reporters.

The delegation was led by deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who is 
also Putin's special envoy on the Middle East and Africa, and met with 
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Russia's naval base in Tartus and its air base at Hmeimim -- both on Syria's 
Mediterranean coast -- are Moscow's only military outposts outside the former 
Soviet Union.

It used the air base extensively after intervening in the Syrian civil war on 
Assad's side in 2015.