Putin, Assad hold unannounced meeting on Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday to discuss a possible settlement to end the Syrian civil war. The Kremlin did not announce the meeting publicly until after it happened. Russia hosts a summit with Turkey and Iran this week to discuss a peace agreement for the region, and additional talks between representatives of the Syrian government and its opponents are scheduled next week in Geneva. Iran and Russia have been Assad’s main backers, while Turkey supports the opposition. The Kremlin said Putin would phone U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi King Salman to discuss the situation on Tuesday. With the Syrian government controlling most of the country and Islamic State (ISIS) fighters mostly routed, Putin told Assad at the Monday meeting that Moscow is about to curtail its military presence there.