Strategic morality: How Moscow rewrites its role in Syria

It is a moment that would seem surreal—if not so predictably cynical.

Just months after Bashar al-Assad, Moscow’s longtime proxy in Damascus, fled into Russian exile, Vladimir Putin rolled out the red carpet for Syria’s new Islamist-led government, whose very leaders were once in the crosshairs of Russian airstrikes. 

President Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomed Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, formerly a rebel commander, with the full protocol of strategic diplomacy.

Let’s be clear: this isn’t a diplomatic masterstroke. It’s geopolitical amnesia dressed in ceremony. And it reeks of opportunism over principle.

Russia spent nearly a decade propping up the Assad regime, unleashing brutal air campaigns that killed tens of thousands, including many of the Islamist fighters now in power in Damascus—among them, reportedly, the new Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former Al Qaeda figurehead.

Russian warplanes helped flatten Syrian cities in the name of stability. Today, Moscow extends a handshake to the victors of that same battlefield. This isn’t strategy—it’s shamelessness.

No Friends, Only Interests

Putin’s logic is as cold as it is effective: Russia has no friends—only interests. With Assad gone and Iran’s grip weakened, Moscow sees an opportunity to retain a foothold in Syria by cozying up to the new power brokers, even if they once carried Kalashnikovs under black flags.

Now Lavrov speaks of “re-evaluating agreements” and welcoming President al-Sharaa to a summit in Moscow, as if history began yesterday. The memory of Russian missiles raining down on rebel-held Damascus is simply scrubbed out in favor of new alliances.

A Moral Vacuum on Both Sides

The Syrian government’s U-turn toward Moscow is equally revealing. The same state once targeted by Russian bombs is now guaranteeing security for Russian military bases and asking for Moscow’s help lifting sanctions. It is a jarring shift that exposes how power trumps principle on both sides.

One might expect newly empowered Islamist rulers to keep their distance from a regime that once massacred their fighters. But realpolitik, it seems, is just as contagious as war.

No Illusions, No Apologies

Let’s not pretend this is diplomacy as usual. It is cynical, cold-blooded calculus—from Moscow and Damascus alike. If Putin appears unbothered by Syria’s Islamist pivot, it’s because he’s always been ideologically agnostic. He doesn’t care who’s in charge—as long as Russia stays in the game.

In the end, the Syrian people are left watching former enemies toast to a new era, while the ruins of Aleppo and Idlib remain mute witnesses to a decade of betrayal and bloodshed.

There are no clean hands here. Only shifting masks.