Russian parliament ratifies naval base agreement with Syria

The Russian parliament voted on Thursday to extend Russia’s lease of a naval base in Syria for 49 years, following Vladimir Putin’s announcement of a partial pullout of Russian troops from the war-torn country.

Russia’s air campaign in Syria, which began in September 2015, helped turn the tide of the civil war in favour of Moscow’s longtime ally Bashar Assad. Putin earlier this month ordered a partial withdrawal from Syria but said Russia would keep its military presence there.

The State Duma voted to ratify an agreement with Syria, submitted by Putin, for Russia to keep its warships at the Mediterranean base in Tartus for 49 years. The agreement allows Russia to keep 11 vessels there at a time, including nuclear-powered ships.

Russia also operates an air base in Syria’s coastal region that has been an Assad stronghold since the start of the conflict in March 2011.

The parliament vote came as the eight round of “technical” talks over Syria that are brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey resumed in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana.

The latest round of talks is expected to discuss the humanitar- ian crisis in rebel-held parts of the suburb of the Syrian capital known as Eastern Ghouta.

Eastern Ghouta has been witnessing an increase of violence in recent weeks as humanitarian access dropped for the estimated 393,000 people trapped inside the enclave.

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners have only been allowed to reach 7 per cent of those besieged, and food shortages have led to many cases of “severe acute malnutrition,” UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said this week. In addition, more than 500 people are waiting for medical evacuation and 16 have already died, including three in the last few days — an infant, a nine-year-old girl, and a quadriplegic.

The opposition’s Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syrian Civil Defence, volunteer first-responders known as White Helmets, said Thursday’s shelling of Eastern Ghouta wounded several people.

The Observatory said that since the attacks on the suburb resumed on Nov. 14, 213 civilians - including 50 children - have been killed in the region.

Syria’s state news agency SANA, said the government delegation met in Astana on Thursday with the Iranian and Russian delegations.