Under the cover of night and tight security, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin met Tuesday for “late night” talks.
Assad apparently hadn’t left his home country since 2011 when civil war erupted across Syria, but that all changed when he showed up in Moscow, which according to the Kremlin and Syrian state media, was initiated at Putin’s request. The trip was only made known to the public Wednesday morning, just hours after the two met.
Photos and videos published via Russian state-run media showed Putin, Assad, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sitting on lavish white chairs in the Kremlin. The transcript said Assad thanked Putin for carrying out airstrikes on rebels over the past three weeks.
“Unfortunately, people from the former Soviet republics, at least 4,000 of them, are fighting against the Syrian army,” a serious-looking Putin said in a video of their discussion. He added, “They cannot return to Russia.”
