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2nd LD: Syrian president visits Russia for talks with Putin -- Kremlin

Xinhua, October 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

Syrian President Bashar Assad visited Moscow on Tuesday for talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said here Wednesday.

"The President of Syria paid a working visit to Moscow on Oct. 20. Talks in narrow and expanded format with the participation of senior leadership of Russia were held in the Kremlin," he said in a statement.

Putin said Russia is ready to cooperate with other world powers and countries in the region that are interested in a peaceful resolution to the conflict to provide support to the political settlement in Syria.

"We are ready to contribute as much as we can not only during the military action against terrorism, but also in the political process," Putin said in a statement released on the Kremlin website.

He said Moscow believed that following positive dynamics of the military actions, a long-term solution to the Syria crisis can be achieved through a political process with the participation of all political forces, ethnic and religious groups.

"Of course, the Syrian people must have the final say," Putin added.

Assad, for his part, thanked Russia for preventing the spread of terrorism in Syria to an even larger area and not allowing the situation develop into a more tragic scenario.

"I would like to thank the Russian people for the help that it has provided to our country, and to express the hope that we will secure a victory over terrorism and will continue to work together in order to rebuild the country economically, politically, and to guarantee peaceful coexistence of all," Assad said.

Russia's air force has been launching strikes against the Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist groups in Syria since Sept. 30 following a request by Assad.

Russia's Defense Ministry said the air campaign has significantly diminished the military capacity of the IS and paved way for an offensive of the Syrian army, while Moscow has ruled out direct involvement of its troops in land operations. Endi