Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday it was premature to say whether Moscow would grant asylum to embattled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
"You know I believe that it is premature to discuss this," Putin said in the second half of a two-part interview with German mass circulation daily Bild, noting though that it was more difficult to give asylum to US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.
"First one needs to give the Syrian people an opportunity to have their say," Putin added.