Kremlin: Putin and Assad Held Very Substantial Talks

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov revealed today, Thursday, that Russian President Vladimir Putin had "very substantial" discussions with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, addressing several areas including the economy and the normalization of relations between Damascus and Ankara, according to Russian news agency "Novosti." In press statements, Peskov said, "Very substantial negotiations took place at the highest level, preceded by communications between the administrations, particularly through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense. As a result of the talks (yesterday between the presidents), a decision was made to sign, within the coming weeks or month, a very important document regarding the increased development of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries." He added, "The topic of normalizing relations between Syria and Turkey was also discussed."