Putin meets Assad

DAMASCUS: Russian President Vladimir Putin met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday during a surprise visit to Damascus, his first since the start of the nearly nine-year-old war, the presidency said.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Damascus for a visit during which he met President Assad at the headquarters of the Russian forces," it said in a statement. The two leaders listened to a military presentation by the commander of Russian forces in Syria, said the presidency.