Putin reiterates support for Syria's Assad
Russia leader
stands by Syrian President Assad and opposes use of external force to end the
four-and-year conflict.
President Vladimir Putin has reaffirmed Russia's support for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and said he opposed any use of external force to try to end the Syrian civil war.
Putin showed no sign of wavering in his policy of trying to shield Assad from the West's pressure in a four-and-half-year-old conflict that has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced millions.
"Our fear is that Syria could plunge into the same situation as Libya and Iraq," Putin said on Friday in response to questions at Russia's annual economic forum in St Petersburg.
"We don't want that ... in Syria."
Putin said the US policy to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, which controls large areas of Iraq and Syria, had so far had "lamentable" and "tragic" consequences.
No comments:
Post a Comment