Putin meets Assad to hold talks over Syria war

Moscow, Nov 21 : Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Syrian counterpart Bashar-al-Assad to discuss the ongoing war in Syria, the Kremlin said in on Tuesday.

The meeting took place on Monday in the Russian seaside city of Sochi.

Putin told Assad that joint military operations against terrorists in Syria were coming to an end, with the focus now shifting to a political process, reports Xinhua news agency.

Assad said: "Russia's military and economic support to Syria has achieved important results in various fields, such as humanitarian relief and military gains."

Top officials of the Russian Ministry of Defence and General Staff of the Armed Forces were also present at the meeting, a Kremlin statement added.

This was Assad's second visit to Russia since the Syrian war broke out six years ago. His last visit was in October 2015.