Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to ask former Syrian President Assad for help in obtaining information on American journalist Austin Tice after he was taken prisoner 12 years ago.

The current situation in Syria compels us to ask for your help in find Austin and safely reuniting our family,” wrote Debra Tice, whose son went missing in Syria in 2012.

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.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he plans to meet with deposed Syrian President Bashar Assad soon and will ask him about the whereabouts of missing American journalist Austin Tice. In his annual marathon press conference,

Does President Assad himself know what happened to this American citizen, a journalist who was doing his journalistic duty in a combat zone? Nevertheless, I promise that I will ask this

Putin has said he will ask the deposed president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, about the U.S. journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in the country 12 years ago. “I promise to ask this question,” he said in response to a question from NBC News’ Keir Simmons.

The fall of the Assad regime in Syria has led to the freeing of tens of thousands of prisoners from the country’s brutal and byzantine prison system. Desperate family members continue to search for many more people who went missing since repression of an anti-government uprising triggered a horrific civil war in 2011.

At his end-of-year news conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would ask Bashar al-Assad, Syria's deposed president, about Austin Tice, the American journalist missing in Syria for more than 12 years.

Vladimir Putin has promised to ask Bashar Al-Assad about American journalist Austin Tice, who was kidnapped in Syria 12 years ago - it comes after a Syrian prisoner claimed he saw Tice alive in 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin talked for more than three hours during an annual news conference in Moscow on Thursday, discussing key topics including the war in Ukraine, his interest in

Russia should have launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a year-end news conference Thursday.

US group Hostage Aid Worldwide says it believes journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012, is still alive, but didn’t offer concrete information on his whereabouts.