By newsfirstusa 
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday promised to invite former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for backup in finding American veteran and journalist Austin Tice following a letter from Tice’s mom pleading for aid.
“I haven’t seen President Assad yet, since he came to Moscow – but I plan to do so. I will have a conversation with him,” Putin advised NBC all over a press convention in keeping with a translator, despite the fact that he seemed to forged suspicion at the former president’s skill to backup. “We’re adults, we perceive – 12 years in the past, a person went missing in Syria, 12 years in the past.
COLLAPSE OF SYRIA’S ASSAD REGIME RENEWS US PUSH TO FIND AUSTIN TICE
Freelance journalist Austin Tice went missing in Syria in 2012 and has not been heard from since. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“We perceive what the status was once and 12 years in the past acts of hostilities have been ongoing from all sides. Does President Assad himself know what took place to that U.S. citizen, a journalist who carried out his journalistic accountability in a struggle segment?” he asked before giving a shrug.
“Nevertheless, I do word that I can ask this query to him,” he added.
Putin’s comments came after Debra Tice on Wednesday appealed to the Kremlin chief in a letter to help find her son who went missing after he was detained in Damascus in August 2012.
The Syrian government for more than a decade refused to negotiate the release of Tice, who was abducted while reporting on the uprising against the Assad regime during the early stages of the Syrian civil war, which ultimately ended earlier this month after the Syrian president was ousted and fled to Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual call-in show and press conference on Dec. 19, 2024, in Moscow. (Contributor/Getty Images)
“The current situation in Syria compels us to invite in your backup to find Austin and safely reuniting our people. You’ve gotten profound connections with the Syrian govt, which could be a superb get advantages for our unrelenting efforts to search out our Austin,” she wrote in the letter obtained by Fox News. “On this vacay season of holiday and kindness, we respectfully request your aid to find Austin and safely reuniting him with our people.
ASSAD PAINTS HIMSELF AS ‘CUSTODIAN’ TO SYRIA AS PICTURE UNFOLDS ON COLLAPSE OF DAMASCUS
“We would, of course, be willing to travel to Moscow or any other place on Earth to put our arms around our precious Austin and bring him home safely,” she added.
In an interview with NBC Information, Debra defended her resolution to put in writing to the authoritarian chief, one of the vital U.S.’ important adversaries, and mentioned, “Of course I am reaching out to powerful people, so they can help us.”
“Russia has had a port there in Latakia forever, so I do think they have the ability to know what’s going on the ground. We are still trying to find out where he is,” she emphasised.
The Shape Branch is providing $10 million for info in terms of finding Austin Tice. (The Shape Branch’s Praise for Justice)
The Shape Branch has escalated its efforts to search out Tice following the autumn of the Assad regime, together with by way of providing a $10 million praise for info in terms of his shed.
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“We have fanned out everywhere with every possible source, every possible actor who might be able to get information,” Secretary of Shape Antony Blinken mentioned Thursday in his interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” in a transcript despatched out by way of the Shape Branch. “This involves anyone and everyone who has some relationship with the different rising authorities in Syria. We’ve been in direct contact with them ourselves. We have other partners on the ground, and we’re looking at getting on the ground ourselves as quickly as we can.
“However probably the most impressive factor is that this: Any piece of knowledge we get, any govern we’ve, we’re following it. We’ve techniques of doing that regardless of precisely the place we’re,” Blinken continued. “And I will simply let you know that that is the number-one precedence… to get Austin.”