Putin ‘promises’ to ask Assad for help in getting Austin Tice the next letter from his mother

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday promised to ask former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for help in finding US veteran and journalist Austin Tice following a letter from Tice’s mother pleading for help.

“I haven’t seen President Assad, since he came to Moscow – but I plan to do so. I will have a conversation with him,” Putin told NBC during a press conference, according to a translator, though he seemed hesitant. with the former president’s ability to help. “We are adults, we understand – 12 years ago, someone went missing in Syria, 12 years ago.

THE COLLAPSE OF SYRIA’S ASSAD REGIME RENEWS US TO FIND AUSTIN TICE

“We understand what the situation was and 12 years ago atrocities were going on on both sides. Does President Assad know what happened to that American citizen, a journalist doing his journalistic work in a war zone?” he asked before shrugging.

“However, I promise I will ask him this question,” he added.

Putin’s comments come after Debra Tice on Wednesday pleaded with the Kremlin chief in a letter to help find her son who went missing after being imprisoned in Damascus in August 2012.

The Syrian government for more than a decade refused to negotiate the release of Tice, who was kidnapped while reporting on the Assad regime’s uprising at the start of Syria’s civil war, which ended earlier this month after the Syrian president was ousted. and fled to Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual parade and press conference on Dec. 19, 2024, in Moscow. (Contributor/Getty Images)

“The current situation in Syria forces us to ask for your help in finding Austin and reuniting our family safely. You have deep connections with the Syrian government, which will be a great asset in our ongoing efforts to find our Austin,” he wrote in a letter obtained by Fox News. “In this holiday season of peace and goodwill, we respectfully ask for your help in finding Austin and reuniting him safely with our family.

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“We would be willing to go to Moscow or anywhere else on Earth to wrap our arms around our precious Austin and bring him home safely,” he added.

In an interview with NBC News, Debra defended her decision to write to the authoritarian leader, one of the main opponents of the US, and said, “Of course I reach out to powerful people, so they can help us.”

“Russia has a port in Latakia forever, so I think they have the ability to know what’s going on down there. We’re still trying to find out where he is,” he stressed.

The State Department is offering $10 million for information related to finding Austin Tice. (State Department Justice Award)

The State Department stepped up its efforts to find Tice following the fall of the Assad regime, including offering a $10 million reward for information related to his release.

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“We spread it all over the place with every source, every actor who could possibly get information,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday in an interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” in a statement released by the State Department. “This involves anyone and everyone who has some relationship with the various growing authorities in Syria. We’ve been in direct contact with them. We have other partners on the ground, and we’re looking to get on the ground ourselves as soon as we can.

“But the most important thing is this: Any information we get, any lead we have, we follow it. We have the means to do that no matter where we are,” Blinken continued. “And I can just tell you that this is the first priority … to find Austin.”