Bashar al-Assad has thanked Vladimir Putin for his military support in the Syrian crisis, praising the Russian leader for intervening to fight “terrorism” in one of the most dramatic turning points of the four-and-a-half-year war.

The surprise meeting between the two presidents in Moscow, which took place on Tuesday evening but was not announced by the Kremlin until Wednesday, was followed by the announcement of imminent talks between Russia, the US, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

It was Assad’s first foreign visit since the uprising against his authoritarian rule broke out at the height of the Arab spring in 2011. Since then 250,000 people have died and millions have been displaced.

The US government issued a stern rebuke to Moscow for hosting the Syrian president. “We view the red carpet welcome for Assad, who has used chemical weapons against his own people, at odds with the stated goal by the Russians for a political transition in Syria,” said White House spokesman Eric Schultz.

The Russian military intervention in Syria began three weeks ago with airstrikes against opposition groups inching closer to Assad’s strongholds in the west of Syria.

Read the article “Bashar al-Assad Thanks Putin for Syria Strikes as Russia Announces U.S. Talks” on theguardian.com.