Russia ‘will not insist Assad remains in power in Syria’

A Russian official has said Moscow will not insist on Syrian President Bashar al Assad remaining in power, despite supporting his government with airstrikes. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov told Ekho Moskvy radio that it was “absolutely not” crucial that Mr Assad, who visited Moscow last month, remained in control in the future. “We’ve never said that,” she said. Russia began airstrikes against opposition groups in September at Mr Assad’s request. It has carried out 1,631 sorties, hitting 2084 targets since then, Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday.

What we did say is a regime change in Syria could become a local or even regional catastrophe.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov

Moscow has insisted it is targeting fighters from Islamist groups, such as Islamic State, but critics have said raids have hit civilians and moderate groups, such as the Free Syrian Army. Russia is planning to host talks between Syrian government officials and opposition leaders next week. Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said the government had agreed to take part but it was unclear what opposition groups might attend.

Middle East Bashar Assad