Assad Says Russian Actions in Syria Are Protecting All Europe

"They [russia] want to protect Syria, Iraq, the region—and even Europe. I am not exaggerating by saying they are protecting Europe today."

"We know from the very beginning that Britain and France were the spearheads in supporting the terrorists in Syria, from the very beginning of the conflict," he said. "We know that they don't have that will, even if we want to go back to the chapter on military participation with the coalition, it has to be comprehensive, it has to be from the air, from the ground, to have cooperation with the troops on the ground, the national troops for the interference or participation to be legal. It is legal only when the participation is in cooperation with the legitimate government in Syria. So, I would say they don't have the will and they don't have the vision on how to defeat terrorism ...

"So I would say, first they will not give any results. Second, it will be harmful and illegal, and it will support terrorism as what happened after the coalition started its operation a year or so, because this is like a cancer. You cannot cut the cancer. You have to extract it. This kind of operation is like cutting the cancer that will make it spread in the body faster."

"If they are ready —serious and genuine—to fight terrorism, we welcome any country or government, any political effort; in that regard we are not radical, we are pragmatic."