Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the presence of foreign fighters in Syria without the approval of President Bashar al Assad, during an announced meeting between the two presidents in Moscow, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
Turkish troops and their Syrian proxies control swathes of land along Turkey’s southern border after seizing them from Syrian Kurdish fighters during the decade-old conflict.
Turkish soldiers have also been deployed at monitoring points around the last major rebel bastion of Idlib in the northwest of the country.
“The main problem, in my view, is that foreign armed forces remain in certain regions of the country without the approval of the United Nations and without your permission,” Putin told Assad during their meeting on Monday, according to a Kremlin statement reported by AFP.
Key ally of the Assad regime, Putin hailed Russia and Syria’s “joint efforts” in the 2011 conflict, saying their militaries had returned the vast majority of Syrian territory to government control.
“Terrorists have suffered very serious significant damage, and the Syrian government, headed by you, controls 90 percent of the country’s territory,” Putin reportedly told al Assad.
The two presidents held talks in Moscow on the cooperation between their armies and how to continue operations to gain control of rebel-held areas in Syria, according to AFP.
During the unannounced meeting, the presidents discussed the importance to reach an agreement “between Syrians and without any foreign interference,” according to the Syrian presidency.
Al Assad praised what he described as the success of the Russian and Syrian armies in “liberating the occupied territories” in Syria.
He described the sanctions imposed by some countries on Syria as “inhumane” and “illegal”.
“I am happy to meet you in Moscow, six years after our joint operations to fight terrorism,” Syrian TV quoted Assad as saying.
Endless rounds of UN-backed peace talks have failed to end Syria’s decade-old war, and in recent years have been overshadowed by a parallel negotiations track supported by rebel backer Turkey and regime ally Russia.
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