Vladimir Putin will meet with the presidents of Turkey and Iran Wednesday for a key summit aimed at re-booting the peace process in Syria, a day after the Russian leader hosted surprise talks with Bashar Assad.

Putin's meeting with Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani comes as Ankara, Moscow and Tehran cooperate with increasing intensity on ending the civil war in Syria that has claimed some 330,000 lives and made millions homeless.

A political settlement in Syria should be based on principles to be worked out during an all-inclusive "internal negotiating process".

Earlier Tuesday, Putin told visiting Czech President Milos Zeman that Assad's troops controlled more than 98 percent of territory.

Analysts say that Russia's decision to intervene militarily in Syria in 2015 appears to have saved Assad's regime but a peace settlement seems ever more elusive.

Assad said he wanted to advance negotiations.

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