Medvedev: We are not for Assad, but for friendship with Syria

Russia does not support the Syrian dictator Bashar al -Assad - it supports friendly relations with Syria, which arose even before Assad arrived at power. This was announced in an interview with Euronews by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

“We simply proceed from the fact that at the moment there is no other legitimate power in Syria, except for Bashar al -Assad,” the official continued. “Someone likes him or does not like it, but he is the current president.” According to Medvedev, if Assada "pull out of this design, there (in Syria. - Ed.) There will be chaos." “We saw this repeatedly with the examples of the countries of the Middle East, when the countries simply broke up into parts, as it was with Libya,” the Russian prime minister noted.

Medvedev also criticized US Secretary of State John Kerry and other supporters of the land operation in Syria. "If (Kerry. - Ed.) He wants to get a long war, then you can arrange ground operations and everything else."

Having accused Kerry of intimidation, Medvedev urged him to abandon such tactics and "agree in the way in which they were talking with Minister Lavrov (Sergey Lavrov, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry. - Ed.), And not to say that if something goes not according to such a scenario, we will take a terrestrial operation with other Arab countries."

The day before, speaking in Munich at a security conference, Medvedev said that relations between NATO and Russia "rolled up during the New Cold War." “Almost daily we are declared the most terrible threat for NATO as a whole, then separately for Europe, then for America and other countries,” the Russian prime minister complained. “Frightening films in which the Russians are starting a nuclear war. I sometimes think: are we in 2016 today or in 1962?”

Meanwhile, on the same day, the head of the Saudi Arabia, Adil al-Jubair, confirmed his country's readiness to take part in a ground operation in Syria as part of a coalition led by the United States. Adil also expressed confidence that Assad is weak and his song is sung. “He will either leave the leadership as a result of the political process, or will be suspended by force,” the minister said.