Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Syrian soldiers in the country's largest rebel bastion in Idlib province Tuesday, state TV reported. 

The president met with the Syrian soldiers on the front line in the town of Habit in the Idlib countryside, said the report with no further details. 

It's the president's first declared trip to Idlib, which is the last major rebel stronghold in the country.

Read more:

Why Idlib matters: Last rebel stronghold of Syrian war

The president said that Idlib is the key to ending the country's eight-year civil war. 

"The battle of Idlib is the basis for resolving chaos and terrorism in all other areas of Syria," the president's office quoted the president on its social media networks.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan backs the rebels who fought to topple Assad during Syria's eight-year civil war. But Assad's allies, Russia and Iran, have helped turn the conflict around, as U.S. forces are now withdrawing from northeast Syria.

Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday for talks which are likely to shape the next steps in northeast Syria.