Senior Russian official to visit Syria, sources say

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Visits Syria's New Leaders

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov is set to meet Syria's new rulers this week in Damascus, two Syrian sources said on Tuesday, in the first visit by Russian officials since Moscow's ally President Bashar al-Assad was toppled.

The Syrian sources had no further details on Bogdanov's meetings or how long the visit would last. There was no immediate comment from Russian authorities.

Russia was a longtime Assad ally and intervened militarily to help him recapture territory from rebels during the more than decade-long war that erupted in 2011 after his crackdown of protests against his rule.

But a lightning rebel offensive late last year pushed Assad to flee Damascus in December - first to the Russian-run Hmeimim Air Base in northern Syria then to Moscow.

Days later, Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Bogdanov as saying that Russia's contacts with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham - the Islamist rebel group that spearheaded the offensive that ousted Assad - were "proceeding in constructive fashion".

Bogdanov said Russia hoped to maintain its two bases in Syria - a naval base in Tartous and the Hmeimim base near the port city of Latakia.

But this month, Syria's new administration cancelled a contract with Russian firm STG Stroytransgaz to manage and operate the Tartous port, according to three Syrian businessmen and media reports.

The contract had been signed under Assad.

Syria's interim defence minister, Murhaf Abu Qasra, told Reuters in an interview in Damascus this month that negotiations were under way with Russia to determine the nature of the future relationship between the two states.

"We as a state are committed to the agreements that were present in the past but there may be some amendments in the negotiations that would achieve Syria's interests," Abu Qasra said.

(Reporting by Firas Makdesi; Writing by Maya Gebeily; Editing by Angus MacSwan)