“Even in Syria, no one would give their lives simply for a man ... People, masses of people, are ready to die for the sake of some business - namely, for the protection of their country, the protection of their existence, their future,” he said.
As Assad noted, the more "die for a person - a dictator or not a dictator - will not be the one who arrived from another country."
“For President Putin to send people to die for just one person or risk the interests of his country for the sake of this person - this is simply illogical,” the head of state added.
He recalled the official statements of the Russian authorities.
“Russia, according to statements by officials ... I mean President Putin, Mr. Lavrov and others ... So, they are in one way or another defending Russian interests. One aspect here is that the fight against terrorism in another state, whether it be Syria or some other country, will help protect the Russian people, since terrorism (and its ideology) knows no boundaries - it does not recognize political borders, ” Assad stressed.
He called the implementation of international law another goal of Russia.
“From their point of view, compliance with these standards is correlated with their national interests. That is, the implementation of international law in the world will contribute to the interests of the Russian people, ”he said.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow will continue to provide assistance to Syria.
In March, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, on behalf of Putin, made a trip to Syria. There he had a meeting with Assad, to whom he conveyed a message from the Russian president.
As the Kremlin later stated, Putin in a message to Assad, which was handed over to Shoigu, outlined a number of issues in bilateral relations.
The full version of the interview is in the material RT.