Al-Assad Hopes War to End in 2017: Any Foreign Troops Coming to Syria without Permission Are Invaders

Local Editor

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad slammed the US military presence in Syria as unhelpful in fight against terrorism.

He further announced that Damascus did not consent to the US military presence in the area of Manbij city.

In an interview with Chinese Phoenix Television, the head of the Syrian state said: "No, no, we didn't. Any foreign troops coming to Syria without our invitation or consultation or permission, they are invaders, whether they are American, Turkish, or any other one. And we don't think this is going to help."

According to al-Assad: "There is no room yet for cooperation between the United States and Syria, despite common task in fighting terrorism."

"Yeah, in theory, yes, but practically, not yet, because there's no link between Syria and the United States on the formal level. Even their raids against ISIS that I just mentioned, which are only a few raids, happened without the cooperation or the consultation with the Syrian Army or the Syrian government which is illegal as we always say. So, theoretically we share those goals, but particularly, not yet," al-Assad announced.

The president also noted that the only serious force that effectively fights against the Wahhabi Daesh [Arabic Acronym for "ISIS"/ "ISIL"] in Syria is Russia.

"The only serious party in that regard is Russia, which is effectively attacking 'ISIS' in cooperation with us," al-Assad highlighted.

Moreover, he underscored that the presence of the United States, on the other hand, was not helpful in fight against terrorism.

"They [the United States] didn't succeed anywhere they sent troops, they only create a mess; they are very good in creating problems and destroying, but they are very bad in finding solutions," al-Assad said commenting on the presence of US troops in Syria.

Speaking about the latest round of Geneva peace talks, he confirmed that the Syrian government did not expect the negotiations to produce any results but considers the meeting to be a first step in the right direction.

"We didn't expect Geneva to produce anything, but it's a step, and it's going to be a long way, and you may have other rounds, whether in Geneva or in Astana," al-Assad said.

He stressed that the Syrian government went to the talks despite reserves over what it considers terrorist groups being represented in the opposition delegation as it hopes that terrorists could give up their ideology and return to normal life.

"We went to that meeting because we think any kind of dialogue could be a good step toward the solution, because even those people who are terrorists or belonging to the terrorists or to other countries, they may change their mind and go back to their normality by going back to being real Syrians," the president said.

UN-backed Syrian peace talks in Geneva were meant to be used by various states as a tool to apply pressure on the Syrian government rather than strive for settling the country's six-year conflict, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Saturday.

"We didn't forge this mechanism; it was forged by de Mistura and the UN with the influence of the countries that wanted to use those negotiations in order to make pressure on Syria, not to reach any resolution," Assad said in an interview with Chinese Phoenix Television, published by the SANA news agency.

According to Assad, at the beginning of the war, Syrians did not understand "what was going on in the country," and they believed in "the Western propaganda."

"We always hope that this year will be the last. However, this is war, so we can not say what exactly may happen," Assad said.

The latest round of Geneva talks did not involve actual settlement negotiations but merely outlined the shape of future discussions, he added.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team