Alwaght- The Russian Council of the Federation (Senators) ratified on Wednesday a protocol to an agreement with Syria on the deployment of the Russian Armed Forces aviation group in Syria.
The protocol regulates Russia’s aviation group deployment in Syria, its movable and immovable assets in the country and matters connected to its counterterrorist operation, according to the Kremlin press service.
The Council of the Federation endorsed the protocol after the lower house, the State Duma, ratified it last Friday, and it will be forwarded to Russian President Vladimir Putin for signature.
The protocol was signed in Damascus on January 18, 2017, and "is aimed at establishing the international legal framework regulating the conditions for the presence of the Russian air group in Syria and boosting the defense potential of Russia and Syria proceeding from the parties’ mutual desire to strengthen and develop military cooperation."
The protocol envisages, in particular, that to deploy the air group, Syria will transfer to Russia for free use, the plot of land on the Hmeymim airfield and all its movable and immovable assets located there.
In addition, the protocol’s provisions regulate Russia’s jurisdiction in the area where the air group is located, and matters pertaining to its personnel, military servicemen’s families and civilian personnel. It sets forth the immunities and privileges, a procedure for cooperation on matters of jurisdiction and provision of legal assistance in civil, criminal and administrative cases.
The protocol states that the agreement will be valid for 49 years and will be automatically extended for subsequent 25-year periods.
Since September 30, 2015, Russia has been conducting successful airstrikes against ISIS and other terrorist groups in Syria at the Syrian government’s request. The US and its allies have also been carrying out airstrikes in Syria purportedly against ISIS positions since September 2014.
The Syrian government says that the US airstrikes usually target the country's infrastructure and have done little to stop the advances of terrorists.
Meanwhile, Russia is discussing with a number of foreign partners deliveries of the Su-32 bomber being used by the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria but no contracts have been signed so far, Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) Director Dmitry Shugaev said Wednesday.
The Su-32 is an export version of Russia’s Su-34 that was used in operations over Syria, which so far has not been purchased by a foreign country.
