MOSCOW -- Syrian President Bashar Assad made a surprise visit to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin on Thursday at his summer residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
A transcript of Thursday's meeting released by the Kremlin quoted Assad as saying that Syria is making progress in fighting "terrorism," which "opens the door to the political process."
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Assad informed the Russian leader of his decision to "send a delegation to the U.N." to discuss overhauling the country's constitution. The United Nations has hosted several rounds of peace talks in Geneva that have made no progress toward ending the conflict.
A post on the Syrian presidency's Facebook page said the two leaders consulted on various issues of mutual interest and the latest political and military developments in Syria.
It said Assad confirmed he will send a list of candidate names as soon as possible to the U.N. for membership in a committee that would discuss the constitution. It said Russia welcomes and supports this decision based on agreements reached in national dialogue meetings in Sochi.
It said the two also discussed economic cooperation and growing investments by Russian companies in Syria.
Russia has been a key ally of Assad throughout the seven-year Syrian civil war. Moscow launched an air campaign on behalf of Assad's forces in 2015 that tipped the conflict in his favor.
Assad previously visited Russia and met with Putin in November 2017 and October 2015, and Putin traveled to the Russian air base in Syria last December to announce a scale-back of the Russian military presence there.
Russian state television on Thursday aired footage of the two leaders meeting. Putin told Assad that "a lot has been done" at Russia-sponsored talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in Kazakhstan.
"Now we can take the next steps together with you," Putin told Assad.
Assad said he is committed to making political changes, without elaborating.
Syria's conflict began with mass protests against the Assad family's decadeslong rule. A government crackdown and the rise of an armed insurgency eventually tipped the country into civil war. More than 450,000 people have been killed.
Assad's future has been a key sticking point in years of failed peace efforts. The opposition and its Western backers have demanded he step aside as part of a political transition, something the Syrian government has adamantly rejected.
On Wednesday, Syria's military said it restored government control over a vast area in central Syria, securing a power station, a refinery and a cement factory after uprooting the armed opposition.
With that victory, Syrian government forces control roads between the country's three main cities -- Damascus, Aleppo and Homs -- for the first time since the civil war began in 2011.
The surrender in northern Homs and southern Hama adds to what has been described as one of the largest population shifts in Syria since the conflict began.
Since March, about 200,000 people were forced to relocate to other parts of the country as part of surrender deals after crippling sieges and bombardment by government forces, according to the U.N., which says the practice amounts to forced displacement.
More than 30,000 people have left northern Homs and southern Hama in the past few days alone, while the majority of the displaced were from the eastern Ghouta suburbs near Damascus.
"The brave armed forces, with support from allies, have completed the clearing of [463 square miles] in rural Northern Homs and Southern Hama, and have restored security to 65 villages and towns," said Brig. Gen. Ali Mayhoub, who read the statement on Syrian television Wednesday.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the last of seven batches of displaced left the area Wednesday in a convoy, bringing the total evacuated to 34,500 people, including fighters and civilians, who have departed to other rebel-held areas in northern Syria.
Information for this article was contributed by Sarah El Deeb and Albert Aji of The Associated Press.
A Section on 05/18/2018