Russian President: West must reassess position on Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on Western governments to “reassess” their position on Syria, criticizing them for relying on terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda to overthrow the Syrian government.

“Why should Russia be the only one reassessing its position? Perhaps our negotiating partners should reassess their position,” Putin said in a Thursday interview with Russian RT news channel.

The Russian president also stated that the security of the Syrian leadership should be guaranteed in any case of transition of power.

Putin said that dialogue among all parties in Syria is the only way to resolve the crisis.

“To us, the most important thing is to end the violence, to force all the sides in the conflict… to sit down at the negotiating table, determine the future and ensure the security of all the participants of the domestic political process.”

“Only then move on to these practical steps about the internal organization of the country itself,” he added.

The anti-Syria Western regimes have been calling for President Bashar al-Assad to step down, but Russia and China oppose the Western drive to oust the Syrian president.

“We understand perfectly well that changes there are needed, but believe that this does not mean that these changes should be bloody,” Putin stated.

“Today somebody is using al-Qaeda fighters or people from other organizations with the same extreme views to achieve their goals in Syria. This is a very dangerous and shortsighted policy.”

Many people, including large numbers of security forces, have been killed in the turmoil that began in Syria in March 2011.

The chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the armed militants are foreign nationals.