MOSCOW: Russia said on Wednesday it had held "frank" discussions with Syria's new de facto leader as it tries to retain its two military bases in the country, but it declined to comment on what he was demanding in return. A Syrian source familiar with the discussions told Reuters that the new leader, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, had requested that Moscow hand over former Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad, who fled to Russia when he was toppled by Sharaa's rebels in December.

Syrian news agency Sana said Damascus also wanted Russia, which backed Assad in the country's civil war, to rebuild trust through "concrete measures such as compensation, reconstruction and recovery". Asked to confirm whether Russia had been asked to return Assad and pay compensation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment.

Russia, whose troops and air force backed Assad for years against Syrian rebels, is seeking to retain its naval base in Tartous and Hmeimim air base near the port city of Latakia. Losing them would deal a serious blow to its ability to project power in the region. The new Syrian administration said after Tuesday's talks with a Russian delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov that it had "stressed that restoring relations must address past mistakes, respect the will of the Syrian people and serve their interests".

But the Syrian source told Reuters that the Russians had not been willing to concede such mistakes and the only agreement that was reached was to continue discussions. Russia's foreign ministry said there had been a "frank discussion of the entire range of issues". It said the two sides would pursue further contacts in order to seek "relevant agreements", without referring specifically to the two bases. - Reuters