Russia says Syria base deal will boost ties with Damascus, RIA reports

MOSCOW, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that a deal reached with Syria on the future of Moscow's military bases in the Middle Eastern country was an important step that would boost ties between the two countries, the state RIA news agency reported.

The Syrian foreign ministry was cited by Syria's state news agency on Sunday as saying that Syria and Russia had reached a memorandum of understanding to settle the future of Russian bases at Tartous and Hmeimim following 18 months of intensive negotiations.

The ministry was quoted as saying that the Syrian state would take over management of civilian facilities, including Hmeimim airport and the commercial berth at Tartous port, allowing them to be gradually integrated into the country's civilian administration. Military facilities would be repurposed as joint training centres with the transition to be completed within three months.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Anastasia Teterevleva Editing by Andrew Osborn )