Bashar al-Assad said that Damascus will not negotiate issues related to the stability of Syria at the meeting of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva.
“About what is happening in the negotiations. They involve a party that is supported by the Syrian government as it expresses its point of view. There is another, not the Syrian side, whose composition was determined by the Turks. Turkey and those behind it, including the United States and its allies, are not interested in the productive work of the Constitutional Committee”, – he said.
“The demands put forward by them lead to the weakening and disintegration of the state. Actually, this is happening in many other regions and countries, to which the United States is imposing constitutions that lead to turmoil and chaos, and not to stability. We do not accept this approach. We will not negotiate on issues related to the stability of Syria”.
Assad said that in order for the negotiations to be successful, all participants must understand what the Syrian people want, with all their constituent groups and diverse political beliefs.
“I believe that the next rounds of negotiations will shed more light on these issues. The dialogue, led by the Syrians themselves, will be successful, however, in the event of outside interference, it will be doomed to failure”, – the Syrian president stressed.
“Let’s be frank. When, for example, you talk about “opposition” – and you have it in your country – you imagine patriots who are part of the Russian people. If you, as a citizen of your country, understand that this group of people or this particular person are associated with foreign special services, you will no longer call them “opposition”. In my opinion, the opposition should be patriotic”.
Assad also stressed that Russia and Iran play an important role in these negotiations and are making efforts to achieve even partial progress, but this is a long and complex process.