France's Hollande warns against any move to 'bolster' Assad

French President Francois Hollande warned against bolstering Bashar al-Assad Wednesday, after Syria's embattled leader made a surprise visit to Moscow in his first known trip overseas since his country's conflict erupted.

"Nothing must be done to bolster Bashar al-Assad, who is the problem, and cannot therefore be the solution," he told reporters after being asked about the trip.

"The Russian intervention (in Syria) is meaningful only if it fights Daesh (Islamic State group) and allows for a political transition.

"If it aims to safeguard Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian issue cannot be settled."

The three-week-old Russian air war in Syria is reported to have killed at least 370 people, a third of them civilians, according to a monitoring group.

Russia says the campaign targets the extremist Daesh group and others it describes as "terrorists".

But rebels and the West accuse Moscow of seeking to prop up ally Assad and of striking moderate and Islamist opposition forces rather than just jihadists.

Assad, who last visited Russia in 2008, told Putin that the air strikes had helped to stop the spread of "terrorism" in his country, the Kremlin said.

Source: AFP