Syria’s relations with Iran and Russia remain an open wound for the country’s people after the nations backed autocratic President Bashar Assad during its long war

Syria's foreign minister said on Wednesday that his country had received positive messages but wanted further reassurance from Russia and Iran, main allies of former leader Bashar al-Assad now seeking to retain influence after his overthrow.

In an interview, Murhaf Abu Qasra, a onetime leader in Syria’s insurgency, discussed moves by authorities in Damascus to build new alliances.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has spoken to Syria’s new leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, the first such top-level contact since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad

MOSCOW - Russia's President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Syria's interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, the first direct communication between the two since Sharaa's forces overthrew Moscow's ally Bashar al-Assad in December.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa spoke for the first time on Wednesday. The Kremlin said Putin spoke to al-Sharaa, who led the campaign to topple the regime of Bashar al-Assad in early December,