Russian President Vladimir Putin has been playing host to an increasingly long queue of statesmen trying to stop the bloodshed in Syria. <br /><br />The latest to arrive is the UN’s Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon.<br /><br />So far, Putin shows no sign of abandoning Bashar al-Assad. <br /><br />Al Jazeera's David Chater, reporting from Moscow, said: "He [Putin] will not sacrifice such a vital strategic partnership, no matter what weight of international pressure is applied."
