Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, during Assad's first visit to Russia since the war broke out in 2011.
A transcript of their meeting published on the Kremlin website states:
"I would like to express enormous gratitude to the whole leadership of the Russian Federation and to the Russian people for the help they are giving Syria,"
"Thank you for standing up for the unity of Syria, and its independence. Those political steps that have been taken by the Russian Federation since the start of the crisis have not allowed events in Syria to develop following a tragic scenario."