Vladimir Putin just confirmed what many suspected - that Russian airstrikes in Syria are meant to bolster President Bashar al-Assad's regime.<br />"Our task is to stabilize the legitimate government and to create conditions for a political compromise ... by military means, of course," Putin told the state-run Russia 24 TV.<br />"The units of international terrorists and their ilk have no desire to negotiate with the Syrian government, who is almost sieged in its own capital."<br />Russia has said it's coordinating with al-Assad's regime to target ISIS and other terrorists.<br />Al-Assad has used the term "terrorists" to describe Syrians who seek his ouster.
