Putin, Assad hail progress in Syria

SOCHI, Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday in the southern Russian city and said the military success of Damascus in Syria allowed for a large-scale political process leading to the withdrawal of foreign forces and the reconstruction of the country.

"After the success of the Syrian government army in the fight against the terrorists", the conditions 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 air base 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 in his statement, without specifying which foreign forces.

Russia has participated in the Syrian war by striking terrorist targets since September 2015.

Putin also congratulated Assad on the "big achievements" made by the Syrian army in the war against terrorism.

"The terrorists have laid down their arms in key locations in Syria, which has allowed for the restoration of Syrian infrastructure," Putin said.

"The next task, of course, is economic recovery and humanitarian aid for those people in a difficult situation," he added.

The latest round of Syria peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana wrapped up on Tuesday, but it did not achieve any concrete progress toward ending the seven-year conflict that has cost 350,000 lives.

Russia, Iran and Turkey have been attempting to resolve the conflict in the talks that started last year in Astana in competition with a United States-backed Geneva initiative.

In a statement from the Syrian presidency, Assad added on Thursday "we have evaluated the political process" and will select candidates for a constitutional committee, a suggestion proposed in January at a summit in Sochi, that will work with the United Nations.

'Stability is improving'

According to the Kremlin statement, Assad said "stability is improving" in Syria, "opening the door to the political process we started some time ago".

"We know it will not be easy because some countries do not want stability to return to Syria. But with you and other partners and friends, we will continue to make strong progress in the peace process," Assad was quoted as saying in the statement.

"Thanks to military successes, we are managing to normalize the situation in the country, opening the way for the return of many of our compatriots."

Russian television broadcast short clips from the two men's discussion.

Putin and Assad met on the eve of a meeting in Sochi between Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the first face-to-face talk of the year between the veteran leaders.

They will discuss the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine.

Reuters - Xinhua - AP