West admits Assad heading Syria is better than terrorists - Lavrov

The West has started admitting that Bashar Assad heading Syria is not that dangerous as terrorists could be in case they take control over the country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview. Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_12_20/West-admits-Assad-heading-Syria-is-better-than-terrorists-Lavrov-8769/

"Both in private conversations and public comments some western politicians have started voicing their thoughts that given that Jihadists and terrorists who are building up their influence in Syria, occupying territories, immediately introducing Sharia law after it, massacring minorities and burning people alive only because they are adherents of a different faith, Bashar Assad being the leader of Syria is a lesser threat for the country than terrorists taking over it," the Russian Foreign Minister stated.

Assad didn’t ask Russia to grant his safety in case he steps down

Syrian President Bashar Assad hasn’t asked Russia to grant his safety in case he steps down, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview.

"We have received no such requests either from Assad or anyone in Damascus," the Minister said answering a query from a journalist. Lavrov also reminded that Assad "repeatedly said he wasn’t going to leave his country and wished to stay with his people and fulfill his duties".

According to the Russian Foreign Minister, Assad might run for presidency next year. "Indeed, he said he didn’t exclude the possibility of running for presidency once again next year. He will make a decision closer to an election and it will depend on whether he would feel the support from the people," Lavrov underlined. Russia ready to discuss EU-Ukraine association agreement at summit in January 2014 - Lavrov Russia is ready to discuss the issue of an association agreement between the EU and Ukraine at a Russia-EU summit in January 2014, Russian Foreign Minister said in an interview.

"We’ll be ready for it. We were ready for it before, amid the tensions in Ukraine. Everything will depend on EU readiness to solve the problem taking into consideration the best interests of Russia and member countries of the EU’s Eastern Partnership project," the Minister stated. He also reminded that it was Ukrainian authorities who set out the proposal to hold trilateral consultations between Russia, Ukraine, and the EU.

"The proposal to hold trilateral consultations in order to fairly consider trade terms existing between Russia and Ukraine, Ukraine and the EU, Russia and the EU, hiding nothing from each other and without trying to deceive one another, was a very good one. President Putin backed it immediately, but the EU rejected it or European officials rejected it, to be exact. When I was in Brussels a week ago and met all the 28 EU Foreign Ministers, some of them said that the proposal of trilateral consultations was a good one. They said it was a right and constructive way, not the confrontational one. So European bureaucrats seem to have taken upon themselves a bit more than EU member countries would want them to take. And I reiterate that the proposal of consultations is a good one," he concluded.

Western nations have indicated to the Syrian opposition that peace talks next month may not lead to the removal of President Bashar al-Assad, adding that he must remain in power to prevent an al-Qaeda takeover of the country. "Our Western friends made it clear in London that Assad cannot be allowed to go now because they think chaos and an Islamist militant takeover would ensue," said one of the senior members of the Syrian National Coalition at a meeting of the anti-Assad

Friends of Syria alliance in London last week

Western diplomats confirmed the shift, saying that the rebels have been warned that any "transitional administration" would have to include a major presence from Alawites, and that Assad could stay as president with "diminished powers."

If the rebels reject that plan "they will lose most of the West," one diplomat said, reflecting the dwindling confidence in the secular rebels’ ability to accomplish anything on their own. The shift in Western priorities, particularly the United States and Britain, from removing Assad towards combating Islamist militants is causing divisions within international powers backing the nearly three-year-old revolt, according to diplomats and senior members of the coalition.

Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_12_20/West-admits-Assad-heading-Syria-is-better-than-terrorists-Lavrov-8769/