(AP) -- The report said the two leaders held bilateral talks on Monday and then met with Russian military chiefs.

It was the second time Assad has traveled to Russia to meet with Putin in the course of the country's six-year war.

The first was in October 2015, shortly after Russia launched its military campaign in Syria to support the Syrian Army.

The meeting in Sochi comes a week before U.N.-sponsored peace talks are to resume in Geneva.

Assad's office confirmed the visit on its Facebook page.

(File Photo: AP)