Bashar Al Assad Meets Putin in Moscow, Take a Swipe at Biden

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday saying foreign forces being deployed in Syria without a decision by the United Nations are a hindrance to its consolidation.

The Kremlin said the comments came during a meeting of the two men in the Russian capital, after Putin congratulated Assad on his win in Syria’s presidential election.

“Terrorists had sustained a very serious damage, and Syrian government, headed by you, controls 90% of the territories,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin statement.

The two leaders have held talks in Moscow on the cooperation between their armies and how to continue operations to gain control of rebel-held areas in Syria, state media in Damascus reported on Tuesday.

The meeting between the two presidents was the first since they held a summit in the Syrian capital in January last year. Syrian state TV described it as a long meeting but did not specify when it took place. The TV said the two were later joined by Syria’s foreign minister and Russia’s defence minister to discuss mutual relations and fighting terrorism.

Russia joined Syria’s 10-year conflict in September 2015, tipping the balance of power in favor of Assad, whose forces now control much of the country. Hundreds of Russian troops are deployed across Syria and they also have a military air base along Syria’s Mediterranean coast.

“I am happy to meet you in Moscow, six years after our joint operations to fight terrorism,” Syrian TV quoted Assad as saying.

In recent weeks, Syrian opposition activists said that Russian warplanes have been carrying out strikes on the northwestern province of Idlib, that last major rebel stronghold in the country.

Assad thanked the Russian leader for humanitarian aid to Syria and for his efforts to halt the “spread the terrorism”.

He lauded what he called a success of Russian and Syrian armies in “liberating occupied territories” of Syria. He also described as “anti-human” and “illegitimate” the sanctions some nations imposed on Syria.