Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday offered Russian President Vladimir Putin his support in the conflict in Ukraine.
In a televised meeting with Putin in the Kremlin, Assad said Russia was fighting neo-Nazis and "old Nazis" in Ukraine, according to a Russian translation.
Without offering evidence, Assad said the West had taken in "old Nazis", and was now giving them support.
Kyiv and the West say Russian accusations that Ukraine has become a hotbed of Nazism and "Russophobia" are a baseless pretext for an unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine.
Russia's military support for Assad helped him to turn the tide in a ruinous civil war that began in 2011 as a pro-democracy movement.
Reuters