Putin meets Assad, hailing military success’ in Syria and calling for political process to withdraw foreign forces

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a rare meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on Thursday and said the “military success” in Syria now allowed for a large-scale “political process” leading to the withdrawal of foreign forces and the reconstruction of the country.

A day after UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura warned a regime assault on the rebel-held area of Idlib could affect 2.3 million people, Putin met Assad in the southern Russian city of Sochi.

“After the success of the Syrian government army in the fight against the terrorists” the condition are in place for “the start of a political process on a major scale,” Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin following the meeting.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “there were detailed discussions” between the two leaders, who last met in December at a Russian military airbase in Syria’s coastal province of Latakia.

“With the start of the political process in its most active phase, foreign armed forces will withdraw from Syrian territory,” Putin said, without specifying which foreign forces.

Russia has been involved in Syria’s civil war since September 2015. Its military support not only ensured the survival of Assad’s regime but also changed the course of the war.