Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow supports Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's request for a Christmas ceasefire and a prisoner exchange with Ukraine, which Orbán made to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had fully supported a prisoner of war exchange between Moscow and Kyiv proposed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, but that Ukraine appeared to have turned down the idea.

The Kremlin on Wednesday played down the damage to Russian influence in the Middle East from the fall of Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad, saying that its focus was on Ukraine and that Moscow was in contact with Syria's new rulers.

Ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has fled to Moscow and has been granted political asylum along with his family, a Kremlin official told the Russian media. Why it matters: Russia has been a key ally of the Assad regime for decades.

The Kremlin said on Monday President Vladimir Putin had made the decision to grant asylum in Russia to Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted as Syria's president by a lightning rebel offensive. Assad's fall is a big blow to Iran and Russia,