Putin called on the UN to support Bashar al-Assad

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a meeting of the UN General Assembly, called on the world community to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

According to Putin, the Assad government is the legitimate government of Syria, as well as the only force besides the Kurds that is capable of and is providing real opposition to the Islamic State (the organization is recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia, its activities are prohibited).

In this regard, the President of the Russian Federation concluded, the UN member countries should provide the Assad government with comprehensive assistance. Putin also called for the creation of a broad international antiterrorist coalition.

Speaking about the war in Ukraine, Putin called for respect for the Minsk agreements and stressed that it was impossible to resolve the conflict by military means.

• Since 2011, a civil war has been going on in Syria, which began after protests against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. After Assad used force against the protesters, Western countries began to support individual opposition groups in the fight against government forces.
• Since 2014, the Islamic State has been operating in the country, against which both the troops of Bashar al-Assad and the coalition of Western countries led by the United States are fighting.