Russia says it’s in constant touch with Syria, evaluating situation there

Syrian rebels have staged their biggest advance in years over the past week with the seizure of the city of Aleppo.

On Thursday the rebels said they had started pushing into Hama, a major city where pro-government forces backed by intense Russian air strikes are trying to halt their offensive.

Russia’s support for Syrian President

Russia is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has provided him with military support since 2015 in the country’s civil war.

“At the moment, we are closely monitoring what is happening in Syria. We are in constant dialogue with our Syrian friends, with Damascus,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“Depending on the assessment of the situation, we will be able to talk about the degree of assistance that is needed by the Syrian authorities to cope with the militants and eliminate this threat.”