Putin plans to meet Bashar al-Assad, says Russia not defeated in Syria

Vladimir Putin says he has not met the deposed Syrian ruler since he fled Damascus for the Russian capital.

President Vladimir Putin says Russia has not been defeated in Syria after rebel groups ousted his ally and longtime leader, Bashar al-Assad, earlier this month.

In his first public comments on the subject on Thursday, Putin said he had not yet met the former Syrian ruler who fled to the Russian capital, but that he “will definitely talk to him” and planned to meet him in Moscow.

He mentioned he would ask al-Assad about the fate of missing United States reporter Austin Tice, whose release was described by the White House as a “top priority”.

Speaking at his annual end-of-the-year news conference, Putin also dismissed claims that Russia, which intervened in Syria in 2015 and turned the tide of the civil war there in al-Assad’s favour, had suffered a loss with the fall of the former regime.

“You want to present what is happening in Syria as a defeat for Russia,” Putin said. “I assure you it is not … we have achieved our goals.”