Before starting his Middle East tour, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Russian soldiers at Hmeimim Russian Military Base where he was received by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In a statement during his visit to the base, Putin said: “Majority of the international terrorists has been destroyed as a result of the cooperation between the Russian and Syrian armies. I have decided that a large part of our military forces in Syria will be withdrawn.”

Putin remarked that the integrity and independence of Syria has been protected, and called attention to the role of military forces in this regard.

After his visit to the Hmeimim base, Putin left for Cairo, after which he will be visiting Turkey.

Hmeimim military base houses 4-5 thousand Russian soldiers who are deployed in Syrian regime-controlled areas for two years now.