Putin says Syrian president should invite Trump to visit Damascus

Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his visit to Damascus that his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad should invite US President Donald Trump.

In his interview with the TV program ‘Moscow. Kremlin. Putin’ on the Rossiya-1 TV Channel on Sunday, the Russian leader expressed readiness to send this invitation to the US president.

During Putin’s visit to Syria, Assad spoke about Apostle Paul, whose conversion occurred on the road to Damascus. The Syrian leader joked that "if Trump traveled that road he would be OK." Putin suggested inviting Trump to Damascus saying that he would "cope with that." "Invite him and he will come!" Putin said.

Assad voiced readiness to do that and Putin said: "I will tell him this."

Putin paid a visit to Damascus on Tuesday. The Russian leader met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Russian command point in Syria. The two leaders listened to the military’s report on the situation in the country’s region. Later they held bilateral talks. The presidents also visited the Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus.

Later Putin visited an Orthodox church in Damascus, the Mariamite Cathedral, where he met with Patriarch John X, the primate of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All The East.