Russia says it has established contact with HTS

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov says there has been direct contact with the political committee of HTS and Moscow, the TASS and Interfax news agencies have reported.

Russia entered Syria’s war in 2015 in support of al-Assad, an event that has been credited with turning the tide in the fighting. Since then, it has maintained several bases in the country.

Interfax also reported Bogdanov as saying that Moscow hopes to maintain its bases in the country to continue “fighting international terrorism”.