Russia trades exclusive control of its Mediterranean footholds for a joint arrangement with Syria's post-Assad government, capping 18 months of negotiations. The deal, reached after 18 months of back-and-forth between Moscow and Damascus, converts what was once exclusive Russian military territory into a shared arrangement with Syria’s new government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The remaining military infrastructure at both sites will be repurposed as joint training and capacity-building centers operated by both countries. How Syria got hereThe agreement is a direct consequence of the political upheaval that reshaped Syria in late 2024. For context, the Soviet Union maintained a naval facility at Tartus dating back to 1971, but it was the 2015 intervention that transformed both sites into fully operational military bases.