Syrian leader al-Sharaa reportedly also demands reparations as Moscow delegation seeks to secure strategic power bases.

Syria has demanded reparations from Russia in order to "rebuild trust" after a meeting between Damascus' new administration and a Moscow delegation, according to local news sources. Russia and Syria's meeting to discuss future relations comes as Moscow looks to retain its two military bases in the Middle Eastern country.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa has requested Russia to hand over former president Bashar al-Assad, who fled to Russia after being toppled by insurgents in December, a Syrian source told Reuters.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister and a special envoy arrived in Damascus. Theirs was the first such visit since President Bashar al-Assad fled the country, according to Russian state news.

Russia deployed troops to Syria in 2015 to support Assad regime's brutal crackdown against anti-government forces.

Russia and Syria will hold further talks over Russian military bases in Syria, Russia's news agencies reported late on Tuesday, citing Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov after his talks with Syrian officials.

MOSCOW - The first Russian official delegation to visit Syria since the toppling of long-term Moscow ally Bashar al-Assad has arrived in Damascus, Russi

Books recounting torture in Syrian prisons or texts on radical Islamic theology now sit openly in Damascus bookstores, no longer traded in secret after iron-fisted ruler Bashar al-Assad’s ouster. “If I had asked about a (certain) book just two months ago,

Russia and Syria will hold further talks over Russian military bases in Syria, Russia’s news agencies reported late on Tuesday, citing Russian Deputy

"This issue requires additional negotiations," TASS news agency cited Bogdanov as telling journalists. Bogdanov is heading Russia's delegation to Damascus for the first time since Moscow's ally President Bashar al-Assad was toppled.

Russia is struggling to retain two military bases in Syria that have enabled it to project influence in the Middle East and Africa, according to a person in Moscow familiar with the situation.