Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Syrian leader Bashar Assad to talk about the need to move from military operations to the search for a political solution to Syria's conflict, the Kremlin said Tuesday.
Russia is actively trying to build an international consensus around a peace deal for Syria, over two years after Moscow began a military intervention that turned the tide of the conflict in Assad's favor.
Putin will meet the leaders of Iran and Turkey, two other powers with major stakes in the Syrian conflict, on Wednesday. He said he would follow up his talks with Assad with phone calls to U.S. President Donald Trump and to Middle Eastern leaders.