The Russian leader, who has offered Bashar al-Assad asylum, also sought to reassure citizens tired of Russia’s war on Ukraine during his end-of-year news conference.

Responding to a question from NBC News’s Keir Simmons, who cited a letter from Tice’s mother seeking Putin’s assistance, the Russian president said he would broach the matter during his meeting with Assad. Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would enquire about the whereabouts of Austin Tice, the American journalist missing in Syria, while responding to a question from an NBC correspondent at his lengthy end-of-year press conference.