Presidents al-Assad and Putin hold meeting in Russian city of Sochi ( Video+Pictures)
President Bashar al-Assad, during his visit to Russia, and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting in the Russian city of Sochi in the presence of a number of senior Russian political and military officials .
President Putin congratulated President al-Assad over the successes achieved in Syria in the fight against terrorism, stressing that the Syrian people are approaching victory over the terrorists.
The Russian President said that the meeting aims at coordination and consultation between the Syrian and Russian sides ahead of the summit scheduled to be held between the Iranian and Turkish presidents, indicating that what is important now is paying attention to the political process in Syria and that Russia is working with everyone in this regard.
President Putin underlined the important time of this visit to increase coordination between the two sides, conduct further consultations and listening to the Syrian leadership’s assessment of the current situation in Syria, form of next steps and the leadership’s vision of the political process and role of the United Nations regarding it prior to Russian-Iranian-Turkish summit.
The Russian President said that “Russia highly appreciates the readiness shown by the Syrian government and its openness to all those who wish peace and support provided by President Assad to the Astana process, in which the participants succeeded in establishing de-escalation zones and starting dialogue with various Syrian parties.
President al-Assad said that the Russian military operation in support of the Syrian Arab army’s war against terrorism has achieved important and significant results on various levels, mainly the political, humanitarian, and political ones.
President al-Assad added that the victories achieved against terrorism led to restoring security to many areas and hence the return of citizens and normal life and at the same time pushed the political track to resolve the crisis in Syria.
President al-Assad said that “ Syria supports any political action, especially after the decline of terrorism and the doors are open locally and internationally for backing this track,” emphasizing that Syria is ready to work with every country willing to contribute to political solution since its depends on Syrian sovereignty and the Syrian decision.
“On behalf of the Syrian people and on my own behalf, I would like to pay tribute to the Russian state institutions, on top the Russian Aerospace Force, for their efforts in combating terrorism in Syria, particularly that these institutions made great efforts in Syria and offered martyrs.” President al-Assad said.
SANA
