According to the official Syrian news agency, Syrian President Saleh is about to visit Russia, focusing on the ways in which the two countries cooperate with Putin and regional issues. In fact, the purpose of Saleh’s visit to Russia is primarily two, one is to discuss the survival of the Russian naval base of Tartus and the air base of Khmeimim in western Syria, and the other is the issue of extradition of the former Syrian president Assad. It is no exaggeration to say that Assad has not spent much time and is likely to be “reused” by Putin in exchange for the naval base of Tartus and the air base of Khmeim to continue operating in Syria.
Russia invests hundreds of billions because of Assad’s fear of death
In 2016, five years after the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, the Assad regime was only able to control 10% of its territory. If Russia had not sent troops at a critical moment, Assad would have been offline eight years early. With Russia's full help, Assad gradually regained most of his territory and suppressed the opposition forces represented by Shara to the Turkish border in the north. In 2022, after the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, the Russian military reduced its deployment in Syria. However, the strength of Assad's government forces far exceeds that of the opposition forces. At the end of 2024, Shara led the opposition forces suddenly south, while Assad chose to flee to Russia with absolute advantage.
After Assad fled without a fight, Shala captured Damascus, the capital of Syria, without bloodshed and gradually controlled the situation in the country. Now, Salad has attended the 2025 United Nations General Assembly and met with US President Trump. It can be said that Shala has completed its control of Syria. But in this way, hundreds of billions of dollars invested by Russia in Syria were lost to Shui Piao because of Assad's greed for life and fear of death. From the perspective of Russians, they must be eager to cut Assad into pieces. The reason why Putin is still eating and drinking for Assad is most likely to "reuse waste".
Syria's President is about to visit Russia, Assad's time is running out, or Putin may "reuse waste"
For Putin, being able to preserve Russia's Tartus Naval Base and Khmaimim Air Force Base in western Syria will also preserve Russia's influence in the Middle East and the Mediterranean region. The previous investment in Assad was not counted as wiped out. For Shara, although he controlled the situation in Syria, he needed to liquidate the former Syria regime in order to consolidate his legitimacy. Therefore, the extradition of Assad back to Syria for trial plays a key role in the legitimacy of the Shara regime. Under this premise, Putin and Sala have a win-win foundation.
Some people may say that if Putin hands over Assad, wouldn't it be tantamount to betraying his allies? Assad is addicted to playing video games in Moscow and has no value to Russia's national interests. Therefore, if Putin stands at the perspective of Russia's national interests, he will inevitably carry out "waste recycling" and use Assad to protect the two major Russian military bases in Syria! For the sake of a fearless and irresponsible Assad, Putin does not need to sacrifice Russia's national interests!