Syria President, Putin Discuss Deepening Ties in Call
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday discussed strengthening ties, the Syrian presidency said, their first call since reaching an agreement over Moscow's military bases in the country.
The Syrian presidency said the two leaders discussed "bilateral relations and regional developments", as well as "strengthening cooperation in areas of shared interest".
"The two sides emphasized the importance of continuing coordination and consultation, and strengthening communication between the two countries, in a way that serves shared interests and supports security and stability in Syria and the region," the statement added.
The Kremlin said in a statement that both leaders "noted the importance of the memorandum of understanding signed on August 9 on the reorganization of the Hmeimim air base and the Tartus logistics support facility".
Russia was a key ally of former Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad during the country's 13-year civil war, intervening militarily to keep him in power and strengthening its presence in the Hmeimim air base and Tartus naval base on Syria's Mediterranean coast.
Assad's ousting in late 2024 dealt a major blow to Moscow's influence in the region.
Putin has since worked to build relations with the new authorities in Damascus to secure the future of the bases, the only official ones Russia has outside the former Soviet Union.
Earlier this month, Syria said it reached an agreement with Moscow on the fate of the bases in Hmeimim and Tartus.
The Syrian foreign ministry said at the time that the bases would be turned into "joint training and capacity-building centers, within new arrangements that preserve mutual interests".
The ministry said the memorandum of understanding "set a time limit of no more than three months to complete the process".
Syria also took over Latakia's international airport, a civilian facility adjacent to Hmeimim and whose operations were closely linked to Russia's presence.
Both the Hmeimim and Tartus bases had remained operational while talks were ongoing.
Damascus has expressed a willingness to cooperate with Moscow after Assad's fall, and Sharaa has visited Putin twice since then.
During Sharaa's last visit in January, Putin said "much has been accomplished in terms of restoring our interstate relations", commending Sharaa for his "efforts to restore Syria's territorial integrity".
Israeli Strikes Kill at Least Two People in Gaza, Officials Say
Israeli strikes killed at least two Palestinians and wounded several others on Monday in two separate attacks in the Gaza Strip, health officials in the enclave said.
A woman was killed and her husband and others were wounded in one Israeli strike on the rooftop of their building in Gaza City, medics said. Another strike killed a woman and wounded others in central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp, they added.
The Israeli military said it struck a militant in Nuseirat, without giving further details. It did not immediately comment on the reported strike in Gaza City.
Palestinian authorities say more than 73,000 people have been killed in Israel's assault on Gaza, launched after Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel in October 2023.
A US-brokered ceasefire agreed last year calls for the eventual reconstruction of the territory, but little progress has been made as negotiators have failed to agree terms for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its troops. Israeli airstrikes have continued.
At least 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, according to the territory's health officials, while the Israeli military says four Israeli soldiers have been killed.
Israel and Hamas trade blame over responsibility for violations of the ceasefire agreement.
Lebanon Hopes for New Staff-Level Agreement with IMF
Lebanon hopes for a new staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund, Finance Minister Yassine Jaber has said, adding that a full IMF program still required Beirut to pass a final law to address losses from its financial crisis.
Lebanon first signed a staff-level agreement with the IMF in April 2022, more than two years after its financial system imploded following decades of profligate spending and corruption in the ruling elite. But it was slow to implement the promised changes.
The current government has fast-tracked reforms, including a bank restructuring law that was welcomed by the IMF in August.
Jaber was in Washington on Monday to meet with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. In comments published late on Sunday, Jaber said he would tell her it was imperative to start work on a full IMF program, which would be expected to involve loans, as Lebanon had worked seriously on financial reforms over the last 18 months.
"Lebanon has accomplished a phase; it passed the banking restructuring law, which was of course a very important message to the Fund and to the world that the parliament and the Lebanese government are serious about reforms," Jaber said in a video released by his ministry.
He said a full-scale agreement with the IMF would have to wait for the passing of the "financial gap law", legislation intended to distribute the losses from the 2019 crash.
In 2022, the government put the losses at about $70 billion, a figure that is likely to be higher now. Those losses need to be distributed between the state, the central bank, commercial banks and depositors, to allow depositors who have been frozen out of their savings to gradually recover their money.
A source familiar with the process said a staff-level agreement could be signed as soon as Monday. A second source said it was likely by the end of the year.
A full IMF program in any case takes longer as it requires approval by the IMF board.
