The decision to grant Bashar al-Assad asylum comes amid concerns about Russian military bases in Syria.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed that deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was granted asylum in Russia as he fled a lightning advance by opposition forces, saying the decision was made personally by President Vladimir Putin.

“Of course, such decisions cannot be made without the head of state. It’s his (Putin’s) decision,” Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Monday. However, he declined to comment on al-Assad’s exact whereabouts, saying Putin had no plans to meet with him.

“Russian authorities have granted political asylum,” Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova reported from Moscow. “We see reports from our side that Russia did not abandon the resigned Syrian president under such difficult circumstances. Al-Assad was reportedly evacuated from the Russian air base in Latakia on a Russian plane.”

Shapovalova said it remains to be seen how the decision to grant the former leader asylum will affect Russia and its assets in Syria.

“The most important question is the fate of Russian military bases,” namely a naval base in Tartous and an air base in Hmeimim, Latakia, Shapovalova said.

Our reporter added that the Kremlin had taken precautions to ensure the safety of its personnel, but incoming reports from Tartus indicated no immediate threat.

The Kremlin said it was premature to say what the future of Russian military bases in Syria would be. “This is all a topic of discussion with those who will be in power in Syria,” Peskov said.

The Tartus facility is Russia’s only repair and resupply center in the Mediterranean, and Moscow has used Syria as a base to fly its military contractors to and from African countries.

Regarding the wider regional and international situation, the Kremlin spokesman added that a turbulent time with high potential for conflict lies ahead. “We see the situation around Ukraine, we see a lot of contradictory statements in this regard, we see a growing potential for conflict in other regions, we can say, the burning Middle East,” he said.

Concerns about Syria’s future leadership are growing

The rapid advance of an opposition alliance led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate, surprised the world on Sunday, and Russia was no exception.

HTS is still classified as a terrorist group by the United Nations and most countries, but has sought for years to soften its image and distance itself from its al-Qaeda roots to appease foreign states and minority groups in Syria.

Peskov said Moscow was in contact with Ankara and other regional actors on the situation in Syria and that Russia was ready for dialogue with all countries in the region given the impending instability.

As part of the so-called Astana peace process, Russia, Turkey and Iran have held regular trilateral talks on the future of Syria.

The fall of Al-Assad destroyed one of the key bastions from which Iran and Russia exercised power in the region. Turkey, long allied with al-Assad’s enemies, emerged stronger, while Israel welcomed it as a result of its strikes against al-Assad’s Iran-backed allies.

On Monday, the Israeli military released photos of its troops in the Mount Hermon border area. It was said that air strikes were being carried out on suspected chemical weapons sites and long-range missiles to prevent them from falling into the hands of opposition fighters.

Israel on Sunday attacked sites in Syria linked to Iran and pushed tanks across the border into a demilitarized buffer zone to prevent unrest there from spreading, but said it intended to stay out of the conflict.