Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Thursday he has never faced pressure from Russia to step aside, as Moscow prepared to host US Secretary of State John Kerry on reviving peace efforts.
Speaking to NBC News in Damascus, Assad insisted his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had never raised the issue of his departure or a political transition.
"Only the Syrian people define who's going to be the president, when to come, and when to go. They never said a single word regarding this," he said.
(AFP)