Kremlin: Putin's stance on Assad unchanged

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s position on the fate of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad remains unchanged that only Syrians may decide on whether he should stay in power.

"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, TASS reported.

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’s support for the Syrian leader may be reduced.

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, adding that "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, adding that "there are no changes in the approach here."

EA