Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Damascus in early April 2025, signing a security agreement with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in a meeting facilitated by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan — a visit that signals a significant shift in regional power dynamics. The emerging Kyiv-Ankara-Damascus axis reflects what analysts are calling a "Fidan doctrine" of alternative alliances, built less on shared values than on mutual security interests, and designed in part as a response to the geopolitical disruption triggered by the Trump administration's pressure for a negotiated end to the Ukraine war. The arrangement carries strategic weight for all sides: Ukraine hopes to leverage Syrian cooperation to neutralise Russia's Mediterranean military bases at Tartus and Hmeimim, effectively cutting off Moscow's supply lines to its forces in sub-Saharan Africa, while Turkey (a NATO member increasingly acting as an independent regional broker) seeks to consolidate influence across a arc stretching from the Western Balkans to the Levant without falling into economic or military dependence on any single power.