Russian leader Vladimir Putin has met President Bashar Assad of Syria at the Kremlin.
Video distributed by the Kremlin press service on Thursday showed the Russian president saying to Mr Assad: “I am very interested in your opinion on how the situation in the region as a whole is developing.
“Unfortunately, there is a tendency towards escalation, we can see that. This also applies directly to Syria.”
Bashar Assad, left, speaks with Vladimir Putin (Valery Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo/AP)
The Kremlin said the meeting took place on Wednesday.
The two men last met in March 2023 at the Kremlin on the anniversary of Syria’s 12-year uprising-turned-civil war.
At that meeting, Mr Putin emphasised the Russian military’s role in stabilising the country.
Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to allow Mr Assad’s government to fight armed opposition groups and reclaim control over most of the country.
While Moscow now concentrates the bulk of its military resources in Ukraine, it has maintained a foothold in Syria and keeps troops at bases there.
“Considering all the events that are taking place in the world as a whole and in the Eurasian region today, our meeting today seems very important,” Mr Assad told Mr Putin through a Russian translator.