On July 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the Kremlin during an unannounced visit to Moscow. During the meeting, the Russian President informed his Syrian counterpart, "I am very interested in your opinion on how the situation in the region as a whole is developing," adding, "Unfortunately, there is a tendency towards escalation, we can see that. This also applies directly to Syria."
While many news agencies and analysts have linked this unannounced meeting between the two leaders to recent attempts to broker a rapprochement between Syria and Turkey, the latest Israeli provocations and regional escalation, present a different perspective. This is particularly evident when considering Putin’s remarks about a “tendency towards escalation," which he specifically applied to Syria.
https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/blog/majdal-shams--the-gambler---the-carpet-weaver