Russia said Wednesday it has maintained contacts with the new authorities in Syria.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “we are monitoring most closely what is happening in Syria.”
“We, of course, maintain contacts with those who are currently controlling the situation in Syria,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
“This is necessary because our bases are located there, our diplomatic mission is located there and, of course, the issue related to ensuring the security of these facilities is extremely important and of primary significance.”
Peskov wouldn’t give details of those contacts, saying only that Russia has contacted “those who are controlling the situation on the ground.”
He wouldn’t give the number of Russian troops in Syria.
Asked to comment about Israel’s seizure of a buffer zone on the border with Syria, Peskov called them destabilizing.
“The strikes and actions in the Golan Heights area, in the buffer zone area, are unlikely to help stabilize the situation in an already destabilized Syria,” he said.
Russia has granted political asylum to ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad and his family after they fled opposition fighters who seized Damascus over the weekend.
