President Assad Rules Out Making Concessions on Syria's Sovereignty

Syrian President Bashar Assad said Thursday he can make concessions on personal issues, but not on the issues related to sovereignty, national interests, the constitution, and independence of Syria.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Syrian President Bashar Assad said Thursday he would not make concessions on sovereignty, independence and national interests of his country, in an interview with BELARUS’ ONT channel.

"All the things related to sovereignty, national interests, the constitution, and independence are not the prerogative of the president and he cannot make concessions regarding them. I make concessions on personal issues which are of no importance to the people, the crisis, and they are not required of me anyway," Assad said as translated and quoted by state SANA news agency.

Russia and Turkey are the guarantors of a nationwide Syrian ceasefire regime that came into force on December 30, 2016, and has been holding up in general, despite continued reports of violations. The UN Security Council passed a resolution in December 2016 supporting the effort.

Earlier in May, Russia, Turkey and Iran signed the memorandum on establishment of safe zones in the country as part of the Astana talks on Syrian settlement. The four zones include the northwestern Idlib province and parts of the neighboring Latakia, Hama and Aleppo, the north of the central Homs province, Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, as well as southern Daraa and Quneitra regions.