Assad to hold talks with Putin during Moscow visit.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Moscow for his first official visit outside the Middle East since last month's earthquake. He will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and a large Syrian ministerial delegation to discuss cooperation in political, trade, and humanitarian spheres, as well as prospects for an overall settlement of the situation in and around Syria. Russia launched a military campaign in Syria in 2015 that helped Assad regain much of the territory he lost to rebels who sought to topple him.