The European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said Monday that the bloc will raise the possibility of closing Russian bases in Syria with the country’s new leadership, as some ministers argue the Russians should be pushed out.
“Many foreign ministers took this up to say that, you know, it should be a condition for the new leadership that they also get rid of the Russian influence there because it is a base where they also conduct their activities toward Africa and southern neighbors,” Kallas told journalists after a gathering of the EU’s foreign ministers in Brussels. “So we will raise this issue with the leadership when we have the meetings.”
The EU is reaching out to the rebel groups that ousted former dictator Bashar Assad and has laid out a number of conditions that need to be met before the bloc grants formal recognition to the incoming authorities or establishes formal diplomatic relations, Kallas said. The EU previously suspended all diplomatic relations with Assad’s government.
Kallas said that the EU would raise the question of Russia’s Tartus and Khmeimim bases in Syria during initial contacts with the rebel forces. Russia has drawn back some of its forces from those bases, but not fully withdrawn from Syria.
Israel has been bombing Syrian military assets in those areas for several days but has not been reported to have attacked Russian ships.
Earlier on Monday, the former Estonian prime minister said she was sending an EU diplomat to Syria to establish contact with rebel groups, which include Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The move comes after United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was in direct contact with the group.
The post EU to discuss closure of Russian bases with Syrian rebels appeared first on Politico.
