Syria`s self-proclaimed president Abu Mohammed al-Jolani shakes hands with Russia`s President Vladimir Putin, left, during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, on October 15, 2025. (Photo by TASS news agency)

Syria`s self-proclaimed president, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, says the ruling Hay`at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)-led regime intends to "restore and redefine ties" with Moscow, following the collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad`s government in early December last year.

Jolani made the statement on Wednesday while meeting with Russia`s President Vladimir Putin in Moscow during his first state visit to the country.

"We are trying to restore and redefine in a new way the nature of these relations," he told Putin in the Kremlin, saying the HTS-led regime would honor all past agreements with Russia.

"There are bilateral relations and shared interests that bind us with Russia, and we respect all agreements made with it," he said.

According to Syrian officials cited by the Reuters and AFP news agencies, Jolani, who once headed the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, seeks to use the meeting with Putin to request that Moscow hand over Assad.

For his part, Putin praised decades of "special relations" between the two countries, stressing that Moscow has always been guided by the Syrian people`s interests. The Russian leader stated that his government wants to expand bilateral ties.

Observers say, despite being on different sides of the battle lines during Syria`s 13-year civil war, the HTS-led regime in Damascus has embraced a pragmatic strategy regarding its relations with Moscow.

For the new rulers in Damascus, it is crucial to sustain relations with Russia to reconstruct the war-torn nation and bolster its international legitimacy.

In a recent interview with US network CBS, Jolani said, "Russia has close and longstanding relations with Syria, which relate to the basic structure of the state and to energy and food, for which Syria depends partly on Russian supplies, as well as some old strategic interests."