So, here we go again. The world keeps spinning, and the jokes just write themselves. **Vladimir Putin**, the man who seemingly thinks he owns half the planet, has opened the Kremlin doors once more. The guest of honor? **Ahmed al-Sharaa**, the new face of **Syria**. This marks the second high-profile **Moscow meeting** between the two since the old boss, **Bashar al-Assad**, was kicked out of his palace. It looks like a normal diplomatic summit on TV. They shake hands. They sit in big chairs. They look serious. But if you scratch the surface of these **Russia-Syria relations**, you find the same old rot that covers everything in global politics.

Let’s look at the reality of this situation. It is absurd. It is a circus. **Vladimir Putin** is currently hiding **Bashar al-Assad**. The guy who spent years wrecking Syria is sitting somewhere in Russia right now, likely enjoying **political asylum**. He is probably eating caviar and sleeping in soft sheets, safe and sound under Putin’s roof. Putin spent years helping Assad crush his own people. He sent planes. He sent guns. He sent money. He was Assad’s best friend until the very second Assad lost his job.

Now, Putin is hosting the guy who replaced him. Imagine that. It is like keeping your ex-spouse in the basement while you cook a romantic dinner for your new partner upstairs. It is twisted. It shows you exactly how much loyalty exists in this game. Zero. None. Putin does not care about Assad. He does not care about Sharaa. He collects global leaders like a kid collects toys. He keeps the old broken one in the closet just in case, and he plays with the shiny new one to see what it can do.

Why does Sharaa go back to Moscow? Why is he visiting the man who propped up the dictator he replaced? Because regarding **Syrian stability**, he has to. That is the sad truth. People thought that when Assad fell, things would change. They thought freedom was coming. That is cute. It is naive. In the real world, power does not disappear; it just changes hands. Sharaa knows who signs the checks. He knows who has the big guns. He is not flying to Moscow to talk about the weather. He is going there to kiss the ring. He is going there to make sure the boss is happy.

It proves that the “New Syria” is a lot like the “Old Syria.” The names change, but the strings are still attached to the same puppet master. Putin is telling the world that he is still the landlord. He controls the property. It doesn’t matter who is sleeping in the master bedroom in Damascus, as long as they pay rent to the Kremlin. Sharaa knows this. If he didn't know it, he wouldn't be there for the second time in such a short period.

And where is the rest of the world while this happens? They are doing what they always do. Nothing. The politicians in the West are useless. The Left talks a big game about human rights and justice, but they just watch. The Right talks about strength and order, but they secretly admire the tough guys. They are all talk. They hold summits and write papers that nobody reads. Meanwhile, Putin is running a halfway house for dictators and a training camp for their replacements at the same time.

It is all a performance. The smile on Putin’s face in the photos says everything. It is the smile of a man who knows he can get away with anything. He knows that nobody is going to stop him. He knows that Sharaa needs him more than he needs Sharaa. And he knows that Assad has nowhere else to go. He owns them both. One is a prisoner of his protection, and the other is a prisoner of his power.

Don’t let the news anchors fool you with big words about “diplomacy” or “statecraft.” There is no craft here. This is not high-level strategy. It is basic gang logic. You keep your friends close, and you keep the guys who owe you money even closer. Sharaa is just the latest actor on the stage. He has to say his lines and hit his marks. If he messes up, well, Putin still has the old guy in the back room, ready to go. It is a hopeless cycle. The average person in Syria, or Russia, or anywhere else, just wants to live their life. But they can’t. They are stuck watching these rich, powerful men play games with their futures. It never ends. It just gets a new coat of paint.

***

### References & Fact-Check * **Primary Source**: For full coverage on the recent diplomatic visit, see the New York Times report: [Putin, Still Harboring Assad, Welcomes New Syrian Leader to Moscow Again](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/world/europe/russia-putin-syria-al-sharaa-meeting.html). * **Context**: This meeting marks the second engagement between President Putin and Ahmed al-Sharaa since the ousting of Bashar al-Assad, who remains under Russian protection.