MOSCOW — Russia may be eyeing a long-term lease for an airfield in the Syrian city of Qamishli, raising speculation that it's planning a third military base in the country.
First reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the potential development suggests Russian forces have established a headquarters near the Qamishli airport in northeastern Syria near the Turkish border as part of ongoing efforts to convert it to a permanent air base. Asked to comment on the news, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was concise, saying he doesn’t "know who is spreading this [rumor].”