Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia has recently achieved several important steps that aim at finding a political solution to the crisis in Syria and combating international terrorism.

Speaking during the ceremony of receiving credentials of a number of foreign ambassadors in Moscow on Wednesday, Putin added that the assistance provided to the legitimate Syrian government helped to prevent the collapse of the state institutions and spared the lives of a large number of civilians.

“Thanks to the operation of the Russian Aerospace forces in Syria, the Syrian Army managed to control the situation and free about 400 towns from the grip of terrorists including Palmyra archeological city and killed thousands of terrorists”, Putin said.

Putin pointed out that the cooperation between Russia and the United States contributed to launching the political process to resolve the crisis in Syria.

“This confirmed that the international community is able to achieve significant results when working jointly on the basis of the international law within the framework of the central role of the United Nations”, Putin added.