Military operations against terrorists in Syria are coming to an end, with the focus shifting to a search for a political solution, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said as he hosted
his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in Sochi.
Putin met Assad on Monday ahead of a trilateral summit with the leaders of Turkey and Iran aimed at
re-booting the peace process in the conflict-torn country.
During the meeting, Putin was full of praise for the Syrian President and his work fighting the Islamic State.
“Syria is striving in the fight against terrorist(s) ... The Syrian people are going through very difficult trials and are gradually approaching the final, unavoidable rout of terrorists,” Putin said, according to Russian news agency Sputnik.