Reports say high-level Russian delegation arrives in Syria

Russian state news agencies are reporting that a high-level Russian delegation has arrived in Syria where it is going to meet with President Bashar Assad.

The visit that RIA Novosti and TASS report on Wednesday comes amid growing expectation of US retaliation against Syria for a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town.

The two state news agencies’ reports say that the Russian delegation includes the governor of an oil-rich Siberian region and several lawmakers, who arrived earlier on Wednesday.

TASS, in a news story out of the northern Syria city of Homs, quotes lawmaker Dmitry Sablin refuting reports that Assad may have fled Syria. Sablin says Assad is in Damascus and is going to meet the Russian delegation.

— AP