MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin met Syrian interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa here to discuss bilateral relations and the Middle East situation, the Kremlin said Wednesday.

"The agenda included the current state of and prospects for the development of Russian-Syrian relations in the political, trade, economic, and humanitarian spheres, as well as the situation in the Middle East," the Kremlin said in a statement.

In his opening remarks at the talks, Putin remarked on the "special relationship" between the two countries and that the bilateral ties have always been "exclusively friendly."

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The Kremlin noted that al-Sharaa had said that Syria will try to "relaunch the full range of our relations" and that the most important thing now is stability in the country and in the region as a whole.