Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa alleged on 12 September that he and his followers from the former Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), took power in Damascus as part of an agreement with Russia.

Sharaa, formerly known as Islamic State in Iraq commander Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, made the comments in an interview with the state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV channel.

During the interview, Sharaa claimed that his forces had begun secret negotiations with Russia, Bashar al-Assad's key ally, during the offensive that eventually toppled Assad.

On 27 November of last year, HTS launched an offensive to capture Aleppo in northern Syria. His forces met little resistance and quickly took control of the city.

His fighters then moved south toward Hama, the next major city on the road toward Damascus.

"When we reached Hama during the liberation battle, negotiations took place between us and Russia," Sharaa said.

When HTS forces continued south to Homs, the next major city, Russia "stayed out of the fighting … under an agreement concluded between us," he added.

Sharaa's forces took control of Damascus on 8 December after Assad fled the country to Russia.

The interim Syrian president also claimed that his forces had deliberately avoided attacking Russia's Hmeimim airbase near Jableh on the country's coast and that he is committed to keeping good relations with Russia.

"Russia is an important country in the world and a member of the Security Council. There are close ties between Syria and Russia that we inherited. They must be preserved and developed calmly and carefully," he was quoted as saying in the interview.

In February, Reuters reported that Israel was lobbying the US to allow Russia to maintain its airbase in Hmeimim, as well as its naval base further south in Tartus. The lobbying was part of an Israeli effort to keep Syria weak and divided, Reuters added.

Syria is currently negotiating a security agreement with Israel, which has occupied large swathes of land in south-west Syria since Sharaa came to power.

"We are now in a state of negotiations and dialogue on the issue of a security agreement," Sharaa said during the interview with Al-Ikhbariya.

He said he is asking Israel to honor the 1974 disengagement agreement establishing a demilitarized buffer zone after the 1973 October (Yom Kippur) War and to withdraw its troops to positions it held before 8 December.

Sharaa's comments appear to endorse Israeli control of the Syrian Golan Heights, which Israel occupied in 1967 during the Six-Day War.

Former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad refused to reach a peace agreement with Israel as long as the occupation of the Golan continued. His son Bashar continued the same policy.