Putin Hosts Assad in Moscow, Tells Other Forces to Leave Syria
- Rare foreign trip for Syrian leader to see main regime backer
- Russia has maintained close ties since 2015 intervention
This article is for subscribers only.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in the Kremlin Monday, backing the Syrian leader’s efforts to eliminate the last enclaves of rebels backed by the U.S. and Turkey.
Under Western sanctions and ostracized by the Arab League after a decade-long civil war, Assad has maintained strong ties with Russia, which sent planes and troops to back his government in 2015.