📰 How Is Damascus Recasting Its “Cautious” Balance Between Moscow and Washington?

In latest weeks, damascus/" class="auto-internal-link">damascus has adopted an approach that places its relations with both Moscow and Washington under close scrutiny, following a sequence of high-level engagements that commenced with talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and were followed by advanced discussions with U. S. Additionally, leader Donald Trump in Washington, D. C. This diplomatic sequence suggests a deliberate effort to recalibrate syria/" class="auto-internal-link">syria’s emerging position within the network of international relationships shaping the syrian/" class="auto-internal-link">syrian file.

It reflects a more attentive reading of evolving realities inside the country and of what may be constructed in the next phase. In fact, it is therefore unsurprising that Damascus treats the Russian and American tracks as simultaneously distinct and interconnected, as each entails different expectations, instruments of leverage, and political costs. Through this cautious balancing act, Damascus appears to be seeking a margin that allows it to reorganise its foreign policy without resorting to stark choices or full alignment with either camp. The approach points to an experimental model aimed at maximising flexibility, while retaining the capacity to respond to the rapid transformations Syria has witnessed in latest months. Structuring Damascus’s Relationship with Moscow The meeting between Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Vladimir Putin appears to have offered both sides an opportunity to reassess the foundations of their political communication in the previous phase and to open discussions about Syria’s next stage.

At the same time, Moscow has likely viewed with concern developments indicating the entry of other international and regional actors into arenas it had previously managed almost exclusively. Against this backdrop, the measured messages conveyed by Damascus in Moscow reaffirmed the importance of Russia’s role, while advancing a broader vision for managing Syria’s external relations. This posture reflects a desire to absorb shifting international dynamics without provoking confrontation or rupture. It also lays the groundwork for a level of mutual understanding that can be further developed, granting Damascus space to reconsider the scope and limits of Russian influence on the ground. Here, the concept of “restricted autonomy” becomes useful in interpreting how states operate within spheres of influence that impose varying constraints on national decision-making.

Under this framework, a state neither exercises full independence nor submits to total subordination, but instead navigates an intermediate space that combines initiative with imposed calculations. In Syria’s case, the contours of this model are visible in the margins of manoeuvre embedded in its relations with both Moscow and Washington. Foreign policy choices…