DAMASCUS - Syria and Russia have reached an agreement over the future of two strategic Mediterranean coastal bases that ultimately ends their use a military outposts for Moscow, Syria’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday. Throughout the conflict, the Hmeimem air base near Latakia and the Tartus naval base were key Russian outposts in the eastern Mediterranean. After Assad’s ouster Russian troops remaining in Syria gradually left the country. Al-Sharaa has visited President Vladimir Putin in Moscow twice since taking power, with the two Mediterranean bases being key points of discussion. Since Assad’s ouster, Syria has also bolstered its ties with the United States, Europe, and neighboring Arab countries that had cut ties with Damascus during Assad’s crackdown on protests.