The Kremlin on Thursday said Russian President Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had discussed a wide range of issues about the Middle East, including a possible meeting between Assad and the president of Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan.

"I am very interested in your opinion on how the situation in the region as a whole is developing," Putin told Assad. "Unfortunately, there is a tendency towards escalation, we can see that. This also applies directly to Syria."

The Kremlin said that meeting took place Wednesday.

"Considering all the events that are taking place in the world as a whole and in the Eurasian region today, our meeting today seems very important to discuss all the details of the development of these events, to discuss possible prospects and scenarios," Assad told Putin through a Russian translator.