President Vladimir Putin has submitted an project between Russia and Syria about indefinite presence of Russian aerospace task force on the airbase of Hmeymim (Latakia province) for approval to the Russian parliament. The document was introduced on Tuesday, August 9^th, in the lower chamber of the parliament. According to the explanatory notes of the document, the task force is present due to request of legitimate Syrian government. Also, the document states, that the airbase´s infrastructure and corresponding territory is presented to the Russian military indefinitely by the Syrian government. “Presence of Russian task force is based on the orders of its commander, who is acting on the basis of bilateral agreement. Composition of the Russian task force is based on the decision of Russian armed forces and Syrian government”, states the document.

Russian aerospace forces are operating from Hmeymim airbase since 30^th September 2015. On 14^th March 2016, president Putin has ordered the withdrawal of main component of the task force to return to Russia, since it has achieved its goals.