MADRID (Sputnik) — A number of Western media outlets reported last week that Russia was planning to set up additional airbase in Syria. On December 9, the Russian Defense Ministry denied the reports.
"It is not true. If there was [intention to build the base], they would have announced it. And we would have announced it at the same time," Assad said in an interview to Spanish EFE news agency.
Assad added that Iran also had no plans to build military bases in Syria.
Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with the country’s government fighting a number of opposition factions and radical Islamist groups, including the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh in the Arab world) and the al-Nusra Front.
Russia, which has outlawed and designated the ISIL as a terrorist organization, has been conducting airstrikes against the group's positions in Syria since September 30, following a request from Assad.
