:

Syria’s Assad meets with Putin in Russia’s Sochi Syrian President Bashar Assad made a surprise visit to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin on Thursday at his summer residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. A transcript of Thursday’s meeting released by the Kremlin quoted Assad as saying that Syria is making progress in fighting “terrorism,” which “opens the door to the political process.” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Assad informed the Russian leader of his decision to “send a delegation to the UN” to discuss reforming the country’s constitution. The UN has hosted several rounds of peace talks in Geneva that have made no progress toward ending the conflict. A posting on the Syrian presidency’s Facebook page said the two leaders consulted on various issues of mutual interest and the latest political and military developments in Syria.