Another Blow to Putin, as Syria Rips Up Ports Agreement with Russia and Signs with UAE

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In yet another humiliating turn of events for the Russian dictator, Syria has terminated its longstanding port agreement with Russia and instead signed a new multi-million-dollar deal with the United Arab Emirates, significantly undercutting Moscow’s influence in the eastern Mediterranean.

According to reports from The Moscow Times and Syria TV, the Syrian regime has annulled the 49-year lease granted to Russia in 2019 for the use of Tartus Port — one of the most strategically valuable Russian military footholds outside of its borders. Instead, Damascus has entered into a new understanding with Dubai Ports World (DP World), a UAE-based logistics giant, to develop and manage Tartus for commercial purposes.

The agreement with the UAE, valued at $800 million, envisions a comprehensive overhaul of the port’s infrastructure, commercial operations, and future expansion. The memorandum of understanding between Syria’s General Directorate of Ports and DP World aims to transform Tartus into a major regional logistics hub.

This is not merely a commercial reshuffling. The Tartus port has been a vital Russian naval base since 1971 and a symbol of Moscow’s power projection into the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Its upgrade and exclusive access rights were formalized in a 2019 agreement under Bashar al-Assad’s regime, giving Russia extensive control over the port until 2068.

That agreement is now effectively void.

Syrian Transport Minister Zouhair Khazim tried to downplay the political implications, calling the deal with the UAE a “purely economic matter” and noting that it would “boost trade and create jobs.” But the decision sends a very different message to the Kremlin. It reflects Syria’s growing dissatisfaction with Russian involvement and a shift toward Gulf partnerships that offer both capital and reduced political baggage.

For Vladimir Putin, this is yet another foreign policy setback at a time when Russia is already overstretched by its war in Ukraine, sanctioned into economic stagnation, and losing leverage in multiple regions. Moscow has long relied on the Tartus naval facility as its only direct Mediterranean access point — and as a critical symbol of great-power status.

The UAE’s growing footprint in Syria also reflects the broader trend of Gulf nations filling the vacuum left by Russia’s waning capacity and Western disengagement. It’s not just about ports; it’s about who shapes Syria’s future — and by extension, the future of the region.

Russia, once the dominant actor in Syria’s post-war architecture, is being squeezed out — not by American force, but by Arab investment.

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