Kremlin: Countries Seeking Stability in Syria Should Deal with the Legitimate Syrian Government

ANKARA- Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stressed that President Bashar Al-Assad is the legitimate President of Syria and that countries which seek preserving Syria’s unity and stability should cooperate with the legitimate government in Damascus.

In an interview with Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News published on Monday, Peskov said, according to Itar Tass, “Assad is the legitimate president of Syria; he is the leader of that country. You may or may not like him. He is a state leader, he has a people, armed forces and intelligence. If you want to be among countries that want to save the destiny of Syria, you should deal with Assad.”

 According to Peskov, “Western countries are making mistakes all the time, but we shouldn’t make the same mistakes.”

He criticized western countries’ regime change policies, regretting what happened in Libya and what is happening in Venezuela. He affirmed that no one has the right to decide on this.

US may maintain military presence in Syria after troop pullout, says Kremlin

Elsewhere in the interview, Paskov said the US may continue to have a military presence in Syria after the withdrawal of troops.

“Where will they pull out to, will someone else replace them, who will they leave the arms, will their presence continue? When they pull out, their presence will most probably not end, it will continue in some way,” Peskov said.

“All these questions are on the agenda, the presidents are talking about them. The general attitude is the same, there is no reason for optimism, and uncertainty is troubling. And this situation is not helping the crisis in Syria and hope for a solution at all,” the spokesman emphasized.

H.M