President al-Assad: Syria continues work with all those who have real will to eliminate terrorism and restore stability to it

Damascus, SANA-President Bashar al-Assad received on Friday Russian President’s Special Envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Verchinen and the accompanying delegation.

During the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on the developments in Syria, especially on the political track and the process of forming a committee to discuss the current constitution.

For his part, Lavrentiev said that the Russian side is satisfied with the positive attitude shown by Damascus and its openness to everything that would contribute to moving forward and achieving the desired progress on this path.

He stressed that such attitude helps in withdrawing excuses from some countries that exert great pressure in order not to achieve any progress in the political process with the aim of blaming Damascus and its allies for this later.

In turn, President al-Assad affirmed that some countries in the region and many Western countries continue to interfere in the political path and exert pressure to impose their will on the Syrians, which may hinder any progress.

He stated that Syria continues to work with all those who have the real will to eliminate terrorism and restore stability while at the same time adhering to the right guaranteed by the international conventions stipulating for not allwoing any outside party to interfere in its internal affairs.

The meeting also dealt with the issue of the return of the Syrians, who were forced by the circumstances of the war to leave their country, where President Assad stressed that the return of the Syrians to their home is a fundamental objective and is a priority for the work of the Syrian government that continues to work to secure all necessary measures for their return.

Lavrentiev briefed President al-Assad on the outcomes of his tour which included a number of Arab countries before his visit to Damascus as he stressed that Russia seeks through this diplomatic movement to exchange views on the issues of the region, especially the political process in Syria and moving ahead with the battle to eliminate terrorism in order to restore security and stability and preserve the unity and independence of Syria.

The meeting was attended by Chief of the National Security Bureau Major General Ali al-Mamlouk, Assistant Foreign and Expatriates Minister, Ayman Sousan, and Russian Ambassador in Damascus.

Manar al-Frieh/Manal