MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the Kremlin, the president’s press service said on Thursday.

“I am very interested in your opinion on how the situation in the region as a whole is developing,” Putin told Assad. “Unfortunately, there is a tendency towards escalation, we can see that. This also applies directly to Syria.”

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The Kremlin said the meeting took place on Wednesday.

“Considering all the events that are taking place in the world as a whole and in the Eurasian region today, our meeting today seems very important to discuss all the details of the development of these events, to discuss possible prospects and scenarios,” Assad told Putin through a Russian translator.