Russian leader Vladimir Putin has met President Bashar Assad of Syria at the Kremlin.
President Putin told Mr Assad he was concerned that tensions are rising in the Middle East, but neither leader provided further details on their talks.
Moscow has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to allow Mr Assad’s government to fight armed opposition groups and reclaim control over most of the country.
While Russia now concentrates the bulk of its military resources in Ukraine, it has maintained a foothold in Syria and keeps troops at its bases there.
Video distributed by the Kremlin press service on Thursday showed the Russian president saying to Mr Assad: “I am very interested in your opinion on how the situation in the region as a whole is developing.
“Unfortunately, there is a tendency towards escalation, we can see that. This also applies directly to Syria.”
The Kremlin said the meeting took place on Wednesday.
The two men last met in March 2023 at the Kremlin on the anniversary of Syria’s 12-year uprising-turned-civil war.
At that meeting, Mr Putin emphasised the Russian military’s role in stabilising the country.
“Considering all the events that are taking place in the world as a whole and in the Eurasian region today, our meeting today seems very important,” Mr Assad told Mr Putin through a Russian translator.
The Kremlin did not provide details on the talks but one potential point of discussion was around Syria and Turkey restoring diplomatic relations.
Moscow is one of the strongest backers of Mr Assad’s government but also has close ties with Turkey and has been pushing for renewed relations.
Turkey and Syria cut ties in 2011 as mass anti-government protests and a brutal crackdown by security forces in Syria spiralled into the still-ongoing civil war.
Ankara backed Syrian insurgent groups seeking to overthrow Mr Assad and still maintains forces in the opposition-held north west, angering Damascus.
In December 2022, the Turkish, Syrian and Russian defence ministers held talks in Moscow, the first ministerial-level meeting between Turkey and Syria since 2011. Russia also brokered meetings between Syrian and Turkish officials last year.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Mr Assad recently signalled they were interested in restoring diplomatic ties.
Last week, a Turkish newspaper reported that Mr Erdogan would meet Mr Assad in Moscow in August, but Turkish officials denied the report, saying it did “not reflect the truth”.
Earlier this month, Mr Erdogan said he had called on Mr Assad to visit Turkey or to meet in a third country.
Speaking to reporters on July 15, Mr Assad said that for relations to return to normal, Turkey would have to withdraw its troops from northern Syria and stop backing insurgent groups that Damascus describes as terrorists.
