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Russia denies future of Assad being ‘a matter of principle’

November 4, 2015 at 12:20 pm

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the continued presence of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s presence is not matter of principle for Moscow, Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reported.

Asked by a reporter on Tuesday if saving Assad was a matter of principle for Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: “Absolutely not, we never said that.”

“We are not saying that Assad should leave or stay,” RIA news agency quoted her as saying.

Zakharova said Russia had not changed its policy on Assad and that his fate should be decided by the Syrian people.

The Russian official noted that an effective working mechanism was developed to resolve the Syrian crisis during the Vienna talks.