Putin’s stance on Assad unchanged, only Syrians may decide on president’s fate - Kremlin

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s position on the fate of Syrian leader Bashar Assad remains unchanged that only Syrians may decide on whether he should stay in power, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. "The position of Russia and President Putin on Assad has been unchanged," Peskov told reporters, commenting on a recent statement of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In his interview with Reuters, the Turkish leader said Putin told him "I’m not Assad’s lawyer." Some media outlets interpreted this as a signal that Moscow may reduce its support for the Syrian leader. The Kremlin spokesman noted that Putin said that he is not Assad’s lawyer in his earlier interviews and before talks with Erdogan. "While not being a lawyer of Assad, Putin is a lawyer of international law and defender of international law," Peskov stressed. The Russian leader advocates a position that does not allow taking decisions on the future of any country by third parties or states, he said. "He believes that the future of Syria and the Syrian leader may be neither decided in Ankara, nor in Washington, Paris, Berlin nor Moscow. Syria’s self-determination is a matter of the Syrian people." "President Putin has been consistently supporting this idea," Peskov said. "There are no changes in the approach here." Read more