![Putin’s comments on Monday came in a video call with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ahead of a two-day international conference on refugees in Damascus [Alexey Nikolsky/Sputnik via AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/000_8UV9BC.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
In call with al-Assad, Russian leader who sent troops to back Syrian forces suggests large areas now enjoy peace.
Bashar al-Assad
![According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, Syrian authorities jailed about 1.2 million people since the country's conflict began in March 2011 [File: SANA/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/0e7eb9cb19d144d08c5101b58940e32a_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
Rights groups file case seeking action against individuals for their alleged role in deadly chemical attacks.
![The US Treasury and State Department together sanctioned six Syrians on Wednesday over ties to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad [File: Delil Souleiman/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/1e2e44cb1a3e46d9b478756ef81adbe5_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
Wednesday’s actions aim to cut off revenues to al-Assad’s government and force it back to the...
Dutch initiative is latest attempt to hold Syrian gov’t accountable amid reports it is mistreating...
![A woman walks past a poster depicting Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. Among the 14 blacklisted on Wednesday were al-Assad's son, Hafez, a Syrian businessman [File: Yamam Al Shaar/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/74ecedd29f6d4314ad09b5ed2ad52846_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
US president says he mulled over assassinating the Syrian leader after a chemical attack on civilians.
![Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other officials on Monday attend a meeting in Damascus, Syria [Reuters via Russian Foreign Ministry]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/97cc81c7dc974f0daa5b2b9de8e84f30_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
President Bashar al-Assad says he wanted to boost business ties with Russia to help Damascus cope with new US sanctions.
![The UN has been striving for more than nine years to try to help find a political resolution to Syria's civil war [File: Xu Jinquan/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ab96cee99cb44202a9a31302996656dc_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
UN says three members of Constitutional Committee, meeting in Geneva after months, infected with coronavirus.
![Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington will "aggressively pursue" sanctions against other military commanders [Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Pool via Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/50111af89248456196bce5021ea3fc0c_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
The US imposed sanctions on Bashar al-Assad’s press officer, a member of the Baath party and several military units
![Debra Tice speaks about her son, Austin Tice, the only US journalist held captive in Syria, during the unveiling of a new banner calling for his release at the Newseum in Washington, DC, in 2016 [File: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1f4e43432c60435f9e1977458c816785_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Pompeo says Trump wrote to Assad, who the US wants deposed, to request help finding Austin Tice, missing since 2012.
![Al-Assad said new US sanctions amounted to a new stage of economic warfare against his government [SANA/Handout via Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/0e7eb9cb19d144d08c5101b58940e32a_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
President of war-torn Syria exits parliament hall to ‘sit down for a minute’ before returning to continue speech.
Wednesday’s sanctions imposed by the US Treasury and the US State Department seek to deprive Assad government of funds.
![Women stand as they wait their turn to cast the votes inside a polling station during the parliamentary elections in Douma [Omar Sanadiki/Reurers]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/32081f8ad62746ca85357e3fd9b99e6a_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Party of President Bashar al-Assad and allies win 177 seats in 250-member Parliament in vote denounced by opposition.
Experts say vote lacks legitimacy as candidates are either members or allies of Bashar al-Assad’s Baath Party.
![Jumana and Farhan al-Alyawi, eight-year-old displaced Syrian twins from east Idlib, in a tent at Atmeh camp in Syria, where the number of 'food insecure' people is estimated to have risen from 7.9 million to 9.3 million in the last six months, the UN says [File: Khalil Ashawi/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/6f78341fc45c4a018f73a688aad2e073_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Though food is exempt from sanctions, asset freezes, banking restrictions and currency rout hamper grain imports.