President Vladimir Putin on Thursday further distanced his government from Syria’s leader, saying Russia would not back Bashar Assad’s regime “at any price” and recognized the need for a change in the Middle Eastern nation. “We are not concerned with the fate of Assad’s regime,” Putin said during his annual news conference in Moscow. “We understand what is going on, given that the [Assad] family has been in power for 40 years and that the need of change is certainly on the agenda.”
Putin said the Kremlin’s “position is not to back Assad and his regime in power at any price.” However, he said that the Syrian conflict needed to be resolved by negotiation.
“I think agreements based on a military victory are out of place here and cannot be effective,” Putin said, adding: “What will happen there primarily depends on the Syrian people themselves.”
Russia, along with Iran, has been one of the Assad government’s few dependable international allies. However, there has been a change of tone in recent comments from Moscow.
Read more: Putin further distances Russia from Syria's Assad - latimes.com
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