War on Terrorism Continues Until Syria Eliminates All Terrorists: President Assad

In a statement to journalists on Monday after a meeting with a Russian official and economic delegation headed by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, President al-Assad said that Syrian-Russian relations date back to more than six decades, and they had always emphasized the political aspect, but in the current circumstances of war emphasis focused more on the political and military aspects, which means that economic relations did not receive the due attention during past decades.

He said that during the previous visit by Rogozin, a number of priorities for improving economic relations have been set, and in the time between these two visits there have been achievements on the ground as a number of Russian companies started work on a number of projects, just as the security situation improved and the Syrian economy started to move forward.

Difference between Geneva and Sochi conference

Assad added that the main difference between the Geneva conference and the Sochi conference that is being worked on with the Russian friends is based on two things: first, the quality of figures or sides participating in it, as in Geneva the people with whom negotiations are held do not represent the Syrian people, and sometimes they don’t even represent themselves. Second, in Sochi there are clear issues related to the constitution and what comes after it such as elections, adding that the Sochi conference will discuss everything as there are no limits to the subjects it will tackle.

In response to a question about the actions of Kurds in the eastern area and their cooperation with the Americans, President al-Assad said that it’s not right to say that a Syrian group – whether ethnic or religious – has a uniform characteristic, because this makes no sense since all groups are diverse, and the various groups in Syria have the good and the bad, so talking about “Kurds” is imprecise as there are various groups in the eastern region working with foreign sides, specifically the Americans.

France supporting terrorism in Syria

Regarding de Mistura and France holding the Syrian delegation responsible for the lack of progress in the most recent round of Geneva talks, the President said that it’s natural for them to do so because they don’t want to hold groups that work for them responsible, adding that these comments by France or other Western countries prove that those groups work for them, and not for the sake of Syria’s interests.

Additionally, President al-Assad said “Since the beginning, France has been the spearhead of supporting terrorism in Syria. France’s hands are covered in Syrian blood and it has no right to evaluate any peace conference. Those who support terrorism do not have the right to talk about peace, let alone the right to interfere in the Syrian affairs. All their statements mean nothing to us and have no value.”

Presidential Elections

The Syrian leader also touched upon the issue of Syria’s next year presidential election, saying that he would welcome any United Nations role in the Syrian vote as long as it was linked with the country's sovereignty.

Elsewhere, Rogozin Russia will be the only country to take part in rebuilding Syrian energy facilities. “The Syrian leadership would like to only cooperate with Russia ... in rebuilding all of the country’s energy facilities,” Rogozin said. He added that Russia wants to use Syrian ports to ship grain to Syria and neighboring countries.

Rogozin also said the sides agreed to develop the deposit and export processed phosphate to other countries. All the profits from the enterprise will be divided between Syrian and Russian companies.