Russian President Vladimir Putin has defended close ally Bashar al-Assad, saying that the embattled Syrian President is ready for a political compromise in order to resolve the ongoing crisis in Syria, which has been in a state of civil war since 2011
Putin said Friday that his close ally Bashar al-Assad is ready to hold snap parliamentary elections and willing to share power with some of his opponents, according to AFP.
"The Syrian president agrees with that, all the way down to holding early parliamentary elections, establishing contacts with the so-called healthy opposition, and bringing them into the governing," Putin told reporters on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Friday, Sputnik News reported.
Putin, one of closest allies of the embattled Syrian President, reiterated his support to the Assad regime and also advocated for the creation of an anti-Islamic State coalition.
"We really want to create some kind of an international coalition to fight terrorism and extremism," he said, according to The Moscow Times.
The Russian President also made it clear that Russia has no plans for military actions against the ISIS in Syria. His remark comes amid reports that Russia already plays a direct military role in Syria.
"To say we're ready to do this today - so far it's premature to talk about this. But we are already giving Syria quite serious help with equipment and training soldiers, with our weapons," he said, according to i24news.
