"We live in a changing world": Assad in an interview with RT - about a visit to Russia and a multipolar world order

- Mr. President, can we say that March 15, when your meeting with President Putin took place, is a significant date?

- This is an important date from the point of view of the visit itself, since Damascus is part of the world. There is mutual influence between Damascus and the world. The question arises, what has not changed in the world in recent years? The coronavirus pandemic broke out and changed the whole way of life, politics, economy, interests, changed the balance of power. Then the conflict in Ukraine began, initiating even stronger changes.

In reality, we live in a changing world. The significance of this visit lies in the reconciliation of the common approaches of Russia and Syria in relation to the new world, which exerts its influence on us every day.

- Andbecause of the consequences associated with the earthquake, some sanctions were lifted from Syria. What is required now to restore the affected Syrian cities? Are there already specific figures?

- Right. According to preliminary estimates, more than $ 400 billion will be needed to restore Syria after the war, but this figure is approximate. Perhaps it will be more, since there are territories that are still not under the control of the Syrian state. To eliminate the consequences of the earthquake will require about $ 50 billion.

But this is also an approximate figure, since the damage caused, whether to residential buildings, state facilities or infrastructure, has not yet been fully calculated, and this requires additional time.

More than 40 thousand dead and the completion of rescue operations on the russian.rt.com: how Turkey and Syria cope with the consequences of earthquakes

Going back to your question about what is needed to rebuild the country. The sanctions have not actually been lifted. Only permission was given for the provision of certain humanitarian assistance. But for the development of the economy, as well as industry and trade, it is necessary to provide access to various products and other vital goods that are necessary for the inhabitants of any country.

However, nothing has changed in this regard. Regardless of whether assistance is provided or not, Syria is in a position to recover from war and earthquake, as it has all the resources to do so. However, the problem is that this process is now more costly and complex. Despite this, it is moving, but in certain areas, as, for example, in the field of electric power. What does Syria need? It only needs the lifting of the blockade.

So the West is lying when it says to the media that the sanctions have been lifted to help the Syrian people, whether in the territories controlled by the Syrian state or not. Is this political hypocrisy?

European politics is based on lies in all matters and affairs. The Syrian dossier is one of those where the West lies. If you don't lie, you can't be from the West. (Laughs) That's the reality now. I'm not exaggerating. We've been dealing with a lot of problems over the years.

Even when there were good relations between Syria and the West, there were lies and hypocrisy on the part of the West about Syria. A similar thing is happening now with regard to the Ukrainian crisis and any other.

Of course, European countries are lying. They want to show their humanism, which is actually false, in relation to the situation created by the earthquake in Syria, so that later no one will say that Western countries have taken an anti-humane position. However, they never provided Syria with any assistance.

- The earthquake also hit Turkish cities. This catastrophe is common to Syria and Turkey, will it help to accelerate the process of rapprochement, overcome differences, maybe turn a blind eye to some actions?

- Turkish citizens suffered from the earthquake, people suffered. In general, I do not believe that there are disagreements between our two peoples. The problem has to do with Turkish politicians with ambitions of their own, which they want to realize through the war in Syria.

Therefore, answering your question, I will say that the only "earthquake" that can change Turkish policy and encourage the Turkish leadership to move closer to Syria in the current conditions is the upcoming presidential elections in Turkey.

- Recently, they have been talking about your upcoming meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with the assistance of Russia or with the assistance of Russia and Iran within the framework of the Astana format. As you know, in politics there is neither eternal enmity nor eternal friendship. Are you ready to meet with Erdogan?

- In this case, a natural question arises: "For what purpose are any political meetings held at any level?"

And what results does Syria need? The main priority is the withdrawal of all illegally present foreign troops, and this mainly concerns the United States and Turkey. There are no other troops illegally present in Syria. In addition, support for terrorism must cease.

• U.S. military in Syria
• AP
• © Baderkhan Ahmad

If the conditions are met and Syria's opinion is taken into account, will your meeting with President Erdogan take place before or after the elections in Turkey scheduled for May 14? It is said that the Assad-Erdogan summit or the refusal to hold it can decide a lot in the presidential and parliamentary elections of Turkey.

- When two sides meet, there should be points of contact between them. In your questions, you are quite right to talk about different priorities that do not intersect at all. The priority of Turkey and its president is elections. There are no other priorities, everything serves the interests of the elections.

As for Syria, our priority is the withdrawal of troops and the restoration of sovereignty, so everything serves the purposes of withdrawing troops and restoring sovereignty. So where are the points of contact? There are none.

If one goal overlaps with another, if the withdrawal of troops ensures his victory in the presidential election, then there will be no problems between us. However, while we do not see common ground, both sides have different priorities. That's the problem.

- But the meeting is not excluded?

- Of course, as you said, if the conditions are met, and the condition for us is the withdrawal of troops. So, if the conditions are met, then we will not set any special deadlines. We will be able to meet even today or tomorrow. There is no problem in terms of the date of the meeting, but the deadline can only be determined if these conditions of ours are met.

- This year, the summit of Arab states will be held in Saudi Arabia. Will you take part in it if an invitation is sent to you? What can you say about the saudi foreign minister's alleged visit to Damascus, as well as about a possible visit to Syria by the King of Jordan at the head of an Arab delegation or contact group?

- The actions of the Arab countries are so far reduced only to putting forward ideas and proposals. We don't have anything concrete at the moment. How will the situation develop further? See. We are waiting for ideas and proposals on possible actions, as well as plans for the implementation of ideas for the settlement of the Syrian crisis. That is, we are talking only about general ideas without detailed specification.

Regarding possible meetings with representatives of Arab or non-Arab states, I want to say: "We have not severed relations with any Arab state. On the contrary, the Arab countries have severed relations with Syria." We do not believe that the severance of relations is in principle the right political action. Naturally, we are in contact with everyone, including non-Arab countries that have severed relations with Syria. This is our principled position as a whole...

• Legion-Media
• © Aleks Taurus

With regard to the Arab summit, I would like to say the following. Syria's membership in the League of Arab States (LAS) has been suspended. Therefore, for Syria to participate in the summit, it is first necessary that Syria's membership in the Arab League be restored. But this issue in itself requires a summit.

As for Syria's position, which was worked out on this issue even before the recent summit held in Algiers... We conveyed this position to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Algeria during his visit to Syria on the eve of the summit.

We also informed other ministers who visited Syria in February after the earthquakes about this position. We have told them all that returning to the Arab League is not an end in itself for Syria. Our common goal is joint action by all Arab States. The Arab League, by virtue of the prevailing circumstances, became mainly an arena for settling scores.

Thus, Syria can return to the Arab League only when the Arab League overcomes internal disagreements and begins to make consensus decisions.

- You arrived on a visit to Russia at a time when it is in the Donbass confronting almost the entire North Atlantic Alliance. What does this confrontation mean for Syria? Has the formation of a multipolar world really begun?

- The multipolar world is in the process of formation. How long will this process last? It's a long process.

Also on the russian.rt.com "Washington's hegemony is becoming a thing of the past": how Russia is fighting for a multipolar world order

The West, and especially the US, has been waging an existential war for years. Yes, it is true that American influence in the world is gradually declining. However, let's be realistic, this does not mean that the US has ceased to be a global superpower.

At the same time, the United States, acting in an open, single world market as the strongest participant, began to lose its position when Trump became president. On the one hand, the United States demonstrated openness in all areas, and on the other hand, they began to "clamp down" on Chinese technology companies. This just shows that the United States no longer considers itself an absolute superpower.

In the past, when we looked at Trump's behavior, we criticized him. Now that we see how Biden behaves, we realize that Trump is a saint compared to Biden.

- Absolutely! This confirms the fact that decisions are made not by the president or the administration, but by American lobbyists with their own interests, who began to lose their absolute hegemony in markets, politics and other spheres. That's on the one hand.

On the other hand, when we talk about unipolarity, we have to determine which unipolarity is meant – political, military or economic? I believe that the most dangerous is economic unipolarity. The greatest weakness for the US is the dollar.

When the dollar leaves the pinnacle of economic hegemony, then the balance of power in the world will change and a multipolar world will emerge. But, if the dollar remains dominant under political and military multipolarity, the world will remain unipolar.