Bloomberg agency revealed, on Thursday, that Russia is close to reaching an agreement with the new leadership in Syria to retain two vital military bases in the country.

The agency quoted informed sources in Moscow, Europe and the Middle East, who requested anonymity, saying that the talks with the new Syrian leadership are related to the survival of Russian forces in the Tartus sea port and the Hmeimim air base.

According to the source in Russia, the Russian Ministry of Defense believes that it has an informal understanding with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (classified as a terrorist organization by Washington) that allows Russia to remain at the two bases.

However, the source warned that the situation may change in light of the instability in Syria.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not respond to a request for comment, while Bloomberg reported that it was unable to verify this information with officials in the Syrian transitional government.

The Russian Tartus Naval Base and Hmeimim Air Base in Syria constitute essential facilities for maintaining Moscow’s influence in the Middle East and the Mediterranean basin, all the way to Africa.

The Tartous base was established in 1971 under an agreement between former President Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, and the Soviet Union in the port of Tartous, and it is Moscow’s only permanent Russian base in the Mediterranean region.

Since the beginning of its intervention in Syria in 2015, Russia has owned the Hmeimim base, which relies on supplies of weapons and equipment arriving by sea to Tartus, about sixty kilometers to the south.

The Hmeimim base is known to be highly protected with advanced air defense systems that allow it to cover large areas in the region.

The base constitutes an essential transit point for mercenaries and military advisors heading to Africa, where Moscow also seeks to strengthen its influence.

Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham led the coalition that entered Damascus on Sunday and overthrew the Assad family, which had ruled the country with an iron fist for half a century.

Although it has distanced itself from the extremist Al-Qaeda organization, the group is still banned in many Western countries, including the United States, which classifies it as terrorist.