Coastal Facilities Transfer
Syria announced on 9 August 2026 a memorandum of understanding with Russia that settles the future of two Russian bases at Hmeimim and Tartus. Under the agreement, the Syrian state will take over the management of facilities of a civilian character.
Foremost among them are Hmeimim airport, near Lattakia, and Commercial Pier 4 at the port of Tartus. The memorandum provides for bringing both sites gradually into the civilian administration system.
Minister's Field Tour
The foreign minister and an accompanying delegation carried out a field tour of Lattakia airport and the port of Tartus on the same day the memorandum was announced.
During the visit he reviewed the installations and facilities covered by the agreement, ahead of their planned transfer to civilian management.
Eighteen Months of Talks
The understanding was reached after a year and a half of intensive negotiations led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates.
It sets in motion a process of reorganizing the Russian presence along the Syrian coast. The text frames the shift as gradual, with civilian-use sites moving step by step into the state's administrative system rather than changing hands at once.
Reorganizing the Coastal Presence
The memorandum settles the status of the two coastal bases and begins the reordering of arrangements that have long shaped Syria's Mediterranean shoreline.
Its stated priority is the return of civilian sites to Syrian administration, starting with the airport and the commercial pier, while the wider process unfolds in stages.
Commercial Stakes
The two sites named in the memorandum are civilian and commercial in character. Commercial Pier 4 is part of the port of Tartus on the Mediterranean, while Hmeimim lies near Lattakia.
Their transfer places commercial port and airport infrastructure under Syrian civilian management, a change the memorandum describes as taking effect in phases.