The war-ravaged president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, has flown to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is now his chief sponsor.
The talks, which were held on Tuesday night, focused on coordinating military action in Syria, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Peskove also said that the talks concerned the fight against "terrorist extremist groups," which is what the Assad regime uses to describe all elements of the desperate opposition. For four and a half years, Syria has been facing a civil war that is growing outside of the Assad regime's control. Assad faces enemies in the form of the moderate forces as well as the extremist group ISIS. Currently, his position is not very safe, according to CNN.
The Kremlin visit was made low-key and was not publicized until Wednesday morning. Only a transcript was released to the public about the exchange. There was has been no report on whether the Syrian president was still in Moscow.
Putin had expressed his hope for there to be progress in Syria on the military front as well as political stability. It was Assad's first foreign trip since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in 2011 and came three weeks after Russia launched a campaign of air strikes against Islamist militants in Syria that has also bolstered Assad's forces, according to Reuters.
"It worries us as well - Russia, I mean - that unfortunately a minimum of around 4,000 people from the republics of the former Soviet Union have taken up arms against the government forces and are fighting on the territory of Syria," Putin said.
"Everyone understands that any military action suggests further political steps," Assad said. "And of course, the common goal for us all should be what the Syrian people want to see for the future of their country."
The Russian president reassured his support for Assad through military and political channels, according to The Wall Street Journal.
