Russian president's schedule excludes meeting with Assad Kremlin spokesman confirms

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s schedule does not include a meeting with Bashar al-Assad, who has been granted asylum in Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"There is no such meeting in the president's official schedule,"  Pescov told journalists, Caliber.Az reports citing Russian media.

Peskov also declined to comment on when Putin last met or communicated with the former Syrian president.

"I will leave that question unanswered," he added during the briefing.

The Kremlin spokesperson had earlier noted that the decision to grant political asylum to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family was made personally by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Such decisions cannot be made without the president. This is his decision," Peskov stated.

When asked by journalists about the location of Bashar al-Assad, who has been granted asylum in Moscow, the Kremlin spokesperson responded, "I have nothing to say about Mr. Assad's whereabouts at this time."

In the early hours of December 8, opposition forces declared Syria liberated from the rule of President Bashar al-Assad as opposition forces surged into the capital.

By Vafa Guliyeva