Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday rejected the notion that the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad represented a defeat for Russia.

Putin said during his annual news conference that Russia had “achieved our goals” in Syria, where it rushed to provide direct military support for Assad’s government more than nine years ago to help push back rebel fighters.

Russian forces operated out of a network of bases in Syria to carry out airstrikes that helped Assad’s military gain an advantage in the civil war.

After rebels made a surprise surge that toppled Assad’s government earlier this month, Assad fled to Russia.

Putin said Thursday he had not yet met with Assad but planned to do so. Among the topics Putin said he would discuss is the whereabouts of American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012.

Putin also said he could ask those now in control in Syria about Tice.

Syrian transition

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Syrians face an “incredibly fraught” opportunity as they work to shift away from decades of Assad family rule to a new future.

Speaking at an event at the Council on Foreign Relations, Blinken said the question is whether Syrians will “seize an opportunity for the first time in decades not to be governed by a dictator, not to be governed by an outside power, not to be governed by a terrorist organization, not be governed by one sect or minority over another.”

He also pointed to the rebels who seized power, and the opportunity they have to engage with the outside world and not take actions that will isolate the country.

Blinken highlighted the example of the Taliban in Afghanistan, saying the group pledged to be more moderate after it seized control but ultimately acted otherwise and ended up “terribly isolated around the world.”

He said those in Syria need to move the country forward in an inclusive, nonsectarian way, to protect minorities, and deal with security challenges such as chemical weapons and groups such as the Islamic State.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.