I'm John Batchel with my colleague, Colonel Jeff McCausen, United States Army retired, CBS News, Dickinson College visiting professor, as well as CEO Diamond Sixth leadership and strategy.

Several wars simultaneously in the Middle East, but we focus on the latest interruption in the march toward peace or ceasefire, that would be Syria.

The al-Qaeda-linked organizations in Damascus right now are said to be in negotiation with the Russians.

I'll start there.

The Russians had deployed heavily into Syria for many years since 2015 to hold on to a warm water port in the eastern Mediterranean.

They'd augmented this with rotary aircraft, with high-performance aircraft, and with the deployment of soldiers.

The reports these last days is that the Russians are withdrawing troops and

equipment. But there is also a report that they're looking to negotiate in some fashion,

the foreign ministry, with HDS to maintain a presence in Tartuz. That's credible if they're

negotiating, but what have they got to offer? This looks like russia's at a disadvantage how does it look to you japh

not a serious disadvantage job they have to understand how important this port of

tartuz and a bay air base there in the cadi province not terribly far away

are to the russians this has been a base that they've had access to since the 1970s in the days of the Soviet Union.

It allows the Russians a naval base in the Mediterranean. Obviously they're being hemmed in by the Bosporus in the South and the Baltic Sea in the north.

Some would argue it is the essential to the Russians' power projection for the many operations they have conducted in Africa,

allowing them a place to move men and material to as they move then on to various sites in Africa.

And that'll be dramatically circumscribed if, in fact, they lose this particular base.

For the Syrians, it's difficult for me to see what the Russians can offer.

The Russians are not in the position to offer a great military assistance because of the needs they

have themselves in Ukraine or certainly humanitarian assistance. Plus, I'm sure Al-Shara,

who is the head of the HTS there in Damascus, is fully aware that for the last

10 to 15 years, the Russians have been a staunch supporter of Mr. Assad and bombed relentlessly.

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