Syrian Foreign Minister Discusses with Russian Officials Implementation of Memorandum of Understanding on Russian Presence at Latakia Airport

Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad al-Shaibani conducted a field tour inside Latakia International Airport. The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that the minister was accompanied by the Chief of the General Staff, Major General Ali al-Nu’man, the Commander of the Air Force, Brigadier General Assem Hawari, the Commander of the Naval Forces, Brigadier General Muhammad al-Saud, and the Head of Military Intelligence, Brigadier General Hamza al-Hamidi.

The agency added that al-Shaibani held a meeting with several Russian officials and officers at the Russian base in the airport to follow up on the implementation procedures of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two sides and to review the progress of the agreed-upon implementation steps.

Last August, al-Shaibani conducted a field tour inside Latakia International Airport and Tartus Port. During that tour, he inspected the facilities and infrastructure covered by the memorandum of understanding between Syria and Russia.

At the time, the Media and Communications Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the reaching of a memorandum of understanding regarding the Russian presence in Syria, following a year and a half of intensive negotiations and talks led by the ministry.

The ministry clarified that, under the memorandum, the process of reorganizing the Russian presence on the Syrian coast will begin, with the Syrian state taking charge of managing civilian facilities, foremost among them being the Hmeimim airbase and the fourth commercial pier at Tartus Port.