Russian defence minister, Syria's Assad meet in Damascus: agencies

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Tuesday to discuss the war in Syria, Russian news agencies cited the Russian Defence Ministry as saying. The ministry said Shoigu visited Syria on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He and Assad discussed military cooperation between Russia and Syria, as well as the countries' joint efforts to defeat Islamic State in Syria, the news agencies reported. (Reporting by Jack Stubbs; Editing by Dmitry Solovyov)