as the Kremlin seeks to secure the future of its military bases in the country. Putin and Sharaa struck a conciliatory tone at their previous meeting in October, their first since Sharaa's rebel forces toppled Moscow-ally Bashar al-Assad in 2024. But Russia's continued sheltering of Assad and his wife since their ouster  remains a thorny issue. Sharaa has repeatedly pushed Russia for their extradition. Sharaa, meanwhile, has embraced US President Donald Trump, who on Tuesday praised the Syrian leader as "highly respected" and said things were "working out very well." Putin, whose influence in the Middle East has waned since Assad's ouster, is seeking to maintain Russia's military footprint in the region. Russia withdrew its forces from the Qamishli airport in Kurdish-held northeast Syria earlier this week, leaving it with only the Hmeimim airbase and Tartus naval base on Syria's Mediterranean coast -- its only military outposts outside the former Soviet Union. "A discussion is planned on the status of bilateral relations and prospects for developing them in various fields, as well as the current situation in the Middle East," the Kremlin said of the upcoming meeting in a statement on Tuesday. (Bssnews)