Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message to Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the Syrian state endorsing attempts to stabilize the country's situation.
"Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message to the head of the Syrian state, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in which he supported efforts to quickly stabilize the situation in the country in the interests of ensuring its sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity," the Kremlin spokesman said.
The security forces' crackdown and clash with former President Bashar al-Assad's supporters have killed hundreds of individuals, most of whom are reportedly Alawites, a minority Shiite Muslim sect that predominates in Sunni-dominated Syria. Whole families, including women and children, were slaughtered in the violence, according to the UN human rights office.
