Al Assad criticizes that Western countries do not want “friends or partners” and that they “only accept followers”
April 22 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of Syria, Bashar al Assad, assured this Sunday that his Government maintains “from time to time” meetings with the US authorities without these having any impact on relations between both countries.
“Currently, the United States illegally occupies part of our lands, finances terrorism and supports Israel, which also occupies our lands. But we meet with them from time to time, although these meetings do not lead us anywhere, but everything will change,” Al Assad has assured, according to the Syrian state news agency SANA.
In that sense, the president has expressed his “hope” that the United States understands that Syria “will not give up its rights” and that “they will only cooperate on the basis of equality.”
“We must work with them regardless of the bad opinion we have of them and explain to them that we will not give up our rights and that we will only cooperate with them on the basis of equality. (…) We could be friends of the West, but the West does not accept friends or partners. Only accept followers,” he added.
Finally, he has criticized the political class for the “decadence of the West” by “caring more about their personal careers” than about the population.
The US Government has repeatedly refused to resume diplomatic relations with Syria, which were canceled following the repression of anti-government protests and the subsequent outbreak of the civil war in 2011 and which remains active after thirteen years.
