Putin meets Assad in Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Syria on Tuesday and met with officials including President Bashar Assad, Syrian state media and a Kremlin spokesman reported.

Putin’s visit is the second to the war-torn country, where his troops have been fighting alongside Syrian government forces since 2015. The visit comes amid heightened tensions between Iran — a key Syrian ally — and the United States, following the killing of a top Iranian general in a US airstrike in neighbouring Iraq.

Revolutionary Guard Gen Qassem Soleimani’s death has sparked calls across Iran for revenge against America. US troops are based in eastern Syria, making the country a potential site of conflict with Iran. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin visited the Russian command post in Damascus and met President Bashar Assad there.

The two leaders were presented with military reports on the situation in different regions of Syria. In his conversation with Assad, Putin said that “a huge distance has been covered in terms of restoring Syria’s statehood and territorial integrity,” Peskov said.

State news agency SANA gave no further details about Putin’s visit only saying that he met with Assad in a Russian military base in the capital.