MOSCOW (Sputnik) — He stressed that small countries like Syria feel safer when there was an international balance because "after the collapse of the Soviet Union when there was only American hegemony, and they wanted to implement whatever they want and to dictate all their policies on everyone."
"I think we always believe the more Russia is stronger — I'm not only talking about Syria, I'm talking about every small country in the world — whenever the stronger Russia, more rising China, we feel more secure," Assad said.