Putin to Bashar: Russia to pullout military forces from Syria

CAIRO – 11 December 2017: Russian TASS News Agency revealed that President Vladimir Putin met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during his visit to Russia’s Hameymim air base in Syria on Monday morning.

"I order the Defense Ministry and the chief of the General Staff to begin the pullout of the Russian military group to permanent locations," Putin told an audience of military personnel.

This visit marks Putin's first trip to Syria and comes as Assad's forces have regained control over most of Syria under the Russian air cover. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Commander of the Russian troops in Syria Sergey Surovikin accompanied Putin during his trip to Syria's coastal province of Latakia.

The air base has served as the main foothold for the air campaign Russia has waged since September 2015 in support of Assad.

Russian President Putin is due to visit two more countries one Monday; Egypt and Turkey.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi is expected to meet with his Russian counterpart Putin, who visits Egypt upon an official invitation, at El-Ittihadya Palace in Heliopolis, eastern Cairo.

Sisi and Putin will discuss issues of common interest and tackle means of boosting the two countries’ cooperation in various fields, most notably in the commercial, military and transportation fields.

Both leaders will speak to media outlets in a press conference after their summit, which marks the eighth summit between the two leaders. The first meeting between the two leaders was in February, 2014, when Sisi was still a defense minister.