Russian President Putin's comments in annual phone-in

(Reuters) - The following are highlights from Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual phone-in on Thursday. ON SYRIA "The point is not that we left and dropped everything... we withdrew a significant part or our contingent, but after the withdrawal we left the Syrian army in a position where, with the support of the part of the contingent that was left there, it can carry out serious offensive operations. Already after our withdrawal it has taken some important targets. ...