Russia lawmakers agree indefinite military presence in Syria

Russia's parliament ratified a treaty with Syria today that allows Russian troops to stay indefinitely in the Mideast country, a show of support for embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The development comes against the backdrop of a Syrian army onslaught on the rebel-held eastern part of the city of Aleppo in northern Syria, which has been backed by Russian warplanes. Since the collapse of a US-Russia-brokered cease-fire last month, ties between Moscow and Washington have grown even more strained.
The two powers support opposite sides in the war - Moscow has been a staunch Assad ally and the United States backs Syrian rebels trying to oust him.

Russia's air campaign in Syria, launched a year ago, has reversed the tide of war and helped Assad's forces regain some key ground. Moscow says the goal of its military operation is to assist the Syrian army in the fight against terrorism. It rejects accusations of targeting civilians.
Lawmakers in the Kremlin-controlled State Duma voted unanimously to approve the deal, which allows Russia to keep its forces at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia, Assad's Alawite heartland, for as long as it wants. The deal was signed in August 2015 in Damascus, a month before the Russian air campaign began.

Russia also has a naval base in Syria's port of Tartus, the only such outpost outside the former Soviet Union. That base is not covered by the treaty, and some lawmakers say it could be the subject of a separate deal.

Yesterday, the Russian military warned the US against striking the Syrian army, stressing that Russian air defense weapons in Syria stand ready to fend off any attack.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj Gen Igor Konashenkov said any US strikes on areas controlled by Assad's government could jeopardise the lives of Russian servicemen, and noted that the range of Russian S-300 and S-400 air defense missile systems would "surprise" any country operating its aircraft over Syria.

During today's debates, Russian lawmakers said that Russia should demonstrate its military muscle to deter the US Leonid Kalashnikov, a Communist lawmaker, said Moscow must "seriously defend our interests in Syria" in a resolute response to what he and other lawmakers described as Washington's anti-Russian policies.