Assad and Putin Meet, as Russia Pushes to End Syrian War<br />Bashar said that I think that hug is proof that Vladimir Putin bears a certain responsibility for trying to help out Syria,<br />Bashar added that For the first time, I feel the international community is united,<br />In another signal that political change in Syria is less and less an international priority, in a phone conversation with Mr. Putin on Tuesday<br />that lasted more than an hour and was mostly about Syria, President Trump did not bring up the issue of political transition, an administration official said.<br />But the biggest problem for the Sochi talks, Neil Hauer, an analyst specializing in Russia’s involvement in Syria, wrote Monday, is "the opposition’s deep mistrust for Russia as a serious broker for<br />an inter-Syrian settlement." Even before calling for the Sochi meeting, Russia had already carved out a parallel process to Geneva — talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, it has led with Iran and Turkey.<br />Also on Tuesday, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran declared "the end" of the Islamic State<br />and congratulated the peoples of Syria, Iraq and Lebanon as well as "dear brother" Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ elite Quds Force, who played a major role in battles in Iraq and Syria.
