Putin, Still Harboring Assad, Welcomes New Syrian Leader to Moscow Again

This is the second time that President Vladimir V. Putin has hosted President Ahmed al-Sharaa since the fall of the Russia-backed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia welcomed President Ahmed al-Sharaa of Syria in Moscow on Wednesday as the two leaders work to establish a new relationship between their countries more than a year after the fall of the Russian-backed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

The trip is Mr. al-Sharaa’s second to Russia since he seized power in Syria in late 2024, sweeping across the country into Damascus, the capital, and forcing Mr. al-Assad to flee into a gilded exile in Russia.

Mr. al-Sharaa, a onetime Qaeda fighter turned rebel commander and statesman, has taken a pragmatic approach to Moscow, despite spending years on the battlefield under Russian airstrikes. He has said that Syria is not in a position to be antagonizing world powers, and he has asked Russia to aid Syria in its reconstruction.

At the same time, he has said that Mr. al-Assad must be brought to justice and requested that Russia extradite him to Syria. Mr. al-Assad and many others in his top circles fled to Russia after the government’s collapse.

Mr. Putin appeared alongside Mr. al-Sharaa at the Kremlin ahead of their meeting and said that Russian sports, medicine and construction sector officials were engaging with Syrian counterparts as the two governments increased their economic ties.

“I know that much will need to be restored in Syria, and our economic operators, including those in the construction sector, are ready for this joint work,” Mr. Putin said.

Mr. al-Sharaa, despite fighting the Russian-backed forces of Mr. al-Assad for years, praised the development of renewed ties with Russia and thanked Mr. Putin ahead of the meeting. He said his government had “overcome the sanctions phase” of the Assad years and was working to unify Syria in the wake of the 13-year civil war.

In December, the United States repealed the harshest set of sanctions on Syria, known as the Caesar Act, which had crippled the country’s economy in recent years.

“Russia, of course, plays a major role in Syria, in stabilizing the situation, not only in Syria but also in the region. In fact, our region is in dire need of stabilization,” Mr. al-Sharaa told Mr. Putin. “Therefore, thank you very much, Mr. President, for your efforts on this matter.”

Earlier in the day, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, declined to comment on whether the extradition of Mr. al-Assad back to Syria would be discussed.

At stake for the Kremlin is the fate of Russia’s military footprint in Syria, which has included the Hmeimim Air Base and a naval base at Tartus, on the Mediterranean, as well as the air base at Qamishli, in northeastern Syria’s Kurdish region, near the Turkish border.

This week, reports surfaced that Russia was removing its forces from Qamishli, after clashes between Syrian government forces and a Kurdish-led militia broke out in the area. The Syrian government under Mr. al-Sharaa is establishing control over the Kurdish region from the Syrian Democratic Forces, a group of predominantly Kurdish fighters that the United States backed to wage war against the Islamic State but that Washington has since largely abandoned.

The United States has said that Mr. al-Sharaa’s government can now handle the threat posed by any resurgence of the Islamic State.

That backing from the United States was widely seen as the latest diplomatic victory for Mr. al-Sharaa, who has sought to rebuild Syria’s international legitimacy after years of political isolation under the Assad government. He has built a rapport with President Trump, courted Gulf countries for investment and engaged in direct talks with Israel, a longtime enemy of Syria.

Mr. Putin congratulated Mr. al-Sharaa on his government’s success in consolidating its control over the Kurdish region.

“We have closely followed your efforts to restore Syria’s territorial integrity,” Mr. Putin said. “And I want to congratulate you on this process gaining momentum.”

Mr. Putin told the Syrian leader that Russia had always pushed for the restoration of Syria’s territorial integrity and supported “all your efforts in this direction.”

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