Sergei Novikov/TASS
Moscow proposed to Damascus a plan to resume Russian military patrols in the country’s southern region to de-escalate tensions with Israel, a source close to the Syrian government told Israel’s Kan public broadcaster on November 18.
According to the source, the government has not agreed yet to the Russian proposal, and the details remain under discussion.
Another Syrian source told Kan that including a Russian presence in southern Syria within any potential security agreement with Israel is not unlikely, especially as political contacts between the Russian and Israeli sides have intensified in recent months.
Just a day earlier, Syrian and Russian defense officials conducted a tour in the southern region. This was the first such move since the fall of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad last year.
The joint delegation moved in a convoy of about 30 vehicles from the governorate of Daraa to the neighboring governorate of al-Qunitra.
It passed through the towns of Beer Ajam, Bariqa, Ruwayhina, Umm al-Azam, al-Qahtaniyah, the al-Alam, and al-Hamidiyah. The Israeli military has been operating in these towns and several others since it invaded the Golan Heights’ buffer zone in al-Qunitra hours after the fall of the Assad regime on December 8 of last year.
Many of the areas visited by the joint delegation were positions where the Russian Military Police was deployed right before the fall of the Assad regime.
Syria’s interest in the return of the Russian Military Police to the southern region was first reported by Kommersant in August. The issue was again discussed in October by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Syrian counterpart Ahmad al-Sharaa during the latter’s visit to Moscow.
Communication between Russia and Israel over the situation in Syria indeed increased in recent months. On November 15, RT reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed ways to establish stability in the war-torn country during a phone call with Putin.
Kan’s latest report came just a day after the broadcaster said that talks between Syria and Israel on a new security agreement had reached a dead end.
The United States has been pushing for the agreement for months now. The inclusion of Russia could help move things forward again. However, it is important to note that Moscow will likely want to secure its interests in the country, that’s including its two bases on the coast. It is unclear yet if Damascus will agree to that.
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how about putin retires?