Russia has sent its first official delegation to Syria following the ousting of long-time ally Bashar Assad, Russian news agencies reported Tuesday.
The visit comes with Moscow keen to secure the fate of two military bases there and after Russian President Vladimir Putin denied that Moscow had suffered a strategic "defeat" in the Middle East following the fall of Assad.
The Russian delegation due to meet the new leadership of the war-ravaged country included Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who is also Putin's special envoy on the Middle East and Africa, as well as Alexander Lavrentyev, the president's special envoy on Syria, the RIA Novosti agency reported.
It said it was "the first visit by Russian officials to Damascus" since Assad fled in December in the face of a lightning campaign by an anti-regime alliance across the country.
Moscow was one of Assad's key backers, intervening in Syria's civil war in 2015 in his favor.
He and his family fled to Russia after his ouster by the mainly Turkish-backed forces.
Russia is now seeking to secure the fate of its naval base in Tartus and its air base at Khmeimim – both on Syria's Mediterranean coast and Moscow's only military outposts outside the former Soviet Union – with the new Syrian authorities.
A report by RT Arabic, a Russian state-controlled channel, said the delegation is set to meet Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and other officials.
Russia's Bogdanov was a diplomat in Syria in the 1980s and 1990s and speaks Arabic, according to the foreign ministry website. Lavrentyev took part in previous negotiations with Assad.
Al-Sharaa leads the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the anti-regime offensive but is banned in Russia as a "terrorist" organization.
RT Arabic reported that Bogdanov described the visit as aimed at strengthening historic ties based on shared interests, and underlined Russia's hopes for Syrian unity and independence.
Al-Sharaa in December noted the "deep strategic interests between Russia and Syria" in an interview with the Al-Arabiya TV channel.
"All Syria's arms are of Russian origin, and many power plants are managed by Russian experts ... We do not want Russia to leave Syria in the way that some wish," he added.
