by Hummam Sheikh Ali
DAMASCUS, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- In 2015, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made his first visit to Russia during the crisis to discuss with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin the war development in Syria.
In 2017, Assad met again with Putin, but this time to discuss the solution to the crisis after the victory achieved in the fight against the Islamic State (IS), analysts say.
In September 2015, Russian forces started operations against IS in Syria and in October, people woke up to the news of Assad's first declared visit to Moscow during his country's crisis.
At the time, the IS was controlling large swathes of territories in Syria, as activists said more than 50 percent of the country was under IS control.
The 2015 visit also signalled a transition to the strong alliance between Assad and Putin at a time when Western and some Arab powers had been urging for Assad's departure as a prelude to the political solution.
From that year, the Syrian government forces started advancing in the battles against IS and other ultra-radical rebel groups in Syria, clawing back significant swathes of territories with the help of Russian special forces and air strikes.
The government forces with the help of the Russians and Iranian-backed groups, mainly the Lebanese Hezbollah, stripped IS of key strongholds in Syria, mainly the ancient oasis city of Palmyra and key IS hubs and hideouts in the desert region in the eastern countryside of Homs Province near the Iraqi border.
But the most significant achievement was retaking the eastern city of Deir al-Zour from IS militants and defeating them this week in their last stronghold in the city of al-Bukamal near Iraq.
In parallel with the Syrian forces, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the U.S., stripped the IS of its de facto capital of Raqqa in northern Syria.
Even though these operations were carried out separately amid tension between the SDF and the Syrian forces, they have dealt a fatal blow to IS.
At this particular time, IS militants' self-styled caliphate has fallen, ushering in a new phase in Syria, which is to find a solution to the over six-year war as the most dangerous and powerful terror-designated group has become homeless in Syria and hiding in pockets in northeastern Syria and in the south.
So here comes the second meeting of Assad and Putin in November 2017.
Photos of the surprising meeting on Tuesday showed both leaders exchanging warm greetings and hugs, the kind of congratulatory welcome that is usually extended for those who have overcome one of the life's hardest trials.
State news agency SANA said Assad met with Putin and a number of top Russian officials during his visit to the Russian city of Sochi, with the aim of discussing the political process with Putin, his country's main international ally.
SANA said the meeting was a "summit" between Assad and Russian top leaders.
The Syrian president said the Russian military support to the Syrian army has achieved important results on different issues, mainly the humanitarian, military and political ones.
Assad said Syria is ready to hold dialogue with all those interested in the solution for Syria's long-running crisis, according to SANA.
Meanwhile, Putin said the Syrian president is ready to work with whoever desires peace and stability for Syria.
According to the report, Putin heard Assad's judgment of the current situation and his government's vision of the political solution in Syria. They also discussed the steps that will be taken and the role of the UN in the solution.
Putin said the aim of the visit is to consult and coordinate between Moscow and Damascus ahead of the Tripartite meeting between the leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran in Sochi on Wednesday.
The Wednesday summit is preceded by a meeting on Sunday in Turkey's resort city of Antalya between the three countries' foreign ministers.
Meanwhile, the Russian leader also congratulated Assad on the victories in Syria, stressing that the Syrian people are close to a full-blown triumph over terrorism.
Analysts in Syria and the region say the summit is very important in terms of its timing, as it came right after the army defeated IS in its last stronghold in Syria.
Osama Danura, a Syrian political analyst and a member of the Syrian government delegation to the peace talks in Syria, told Xinhua that it was "the summit of the victorious."
The changes that have taken place recently and the need to draw the features of the next phase in Syria led to the meeting between both presidents, Danura added.
For his part, Hmaidi al-Abdullah, another political analyst, said the upcoming phase in Syria will be "sensitive," adding that the Syrian government and its allies will be facing other challenges in this phase.
He told Xinhua that foreign military forces have already entered Syria with the pretext of fighting terrorism without the consent of the Syrian government, such as the Turkish and U.S. armies.
"This phase demands high coordination between the allies that have fought the war on terror to focus their efforts on the political solution," he said.
After the meeting, President Putin informed several world leaders, including his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, of the outcome of his talks with Assad.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he had a "great" phone conversation with Putin, just a day after the rare visit of Assad to the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.
"We had a great call with President Putin," Trump told reporters on Tuesday, noting that the over one-hour phone conversation covered topics such as "peace in Syria," North Korea and Ukraine.
