We don't know the powers that be right now.
The text's "...too early to say what the future would hold" and "premature to talk" becomes in the title of the article: "Kremlin Says to Discuss Russian Bases With Syria's New Rulers."
But that is not the title of the article as hot-linked, when one actually looks. It is "Putin Made Decision to Grant Assad Asylum in Russia, Kremlin Says."
See how that works?
You are correct: "We don't know the powers that be right now."