Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov (left) exchanging a handshake with Syrian Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, in Damascus. (Credit: AFP)
The Kremlin was one of the main losers in the fall of the Assad clan, which had held power in Syria for over five decades. As a sponsor of the former regime, which it had saved from collapse with its intervention in the country in 2015, Moscow suffered a major defeat on Dec. 8, when a coalition of rebel groups led by the Islamist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted President Bashar al-Assad, who immediately sought refuge in Russia. However, in recent days, Moscow seems to be positioning itself once again at the center of the game, betting particularly on the new Syrian authorities' desire to stabilize the economy after more than thirteen years of war.On Wednesday, Damascus received a shipment of its national currency — printed in Russia after the 2011 war began — transported to the central bank following its arrival at...
The Kremlin was one of the main losers in the fall of the Assad clan, which had held power in Syria for over five decades. As a sponsor of the former regime, which it had saved from collapse with its intervention in the country in 2015, Moscow suffered a major defeat on Dec. 8, when a coalition of rebel groups led by the Islamist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted President Bashar al-Assad, who immediately sought refuge in Russia. However, in recent days, Moscow seems to be positioning itself once again at the center of the game, betting particularly on the new Syrian authorities' desire to stabilize the economy after more than thirteen years of war.On Wednesday, Damascus received a shipment of its national currency — printed in Russia after the 2011 war began — transported to the central bank following its arrival at...