MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has visited Damascus, where he met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the defense ministry stated on Tuesday.
"At the behest of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russian defense minister, Army General Sergei Shoigu, made a working trip to Damascus, where he was received by the president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad," the statement said.
Shoigu informed al-Assad of the current Russian naval exercise in the East Mediterranean, the ministry said.
"At the meeting, Sergei Shoigu and Bashar al-Assad discussed various issues concerning their countries' military-technical cooperation as part of the joint fight against remaining international terrorists and also certain aspects of Russia's humanitarian assistance to the Syrian population affected by punitive U.S. and Western sanctions," the ministry said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Shoigu inspected Russian bases at Syria's Hmeimim and Tartus. The minister watched the Russian naval exercise in the Mediterranean Sea, involving more than 15 warships and over 30 aircraft.