"The ceasefire has been relatively successful. In other words, it has been better than many people expected…because it was expected that the truce would fail. We can say that the success of the ceasefire can be assessed as ‘good’ or even a little better than good," Assad said.
He noted, however, that Russia-US talks on defining terrorist groups active in Syria have failed.
"But there is a suggestion on how to improve the situation: every organization or group that accepts the ceasefire and agrees to dialogue with the Russian side or the Syrian government – such groups will be considered to have abandoned terrorism in favor of political activity," the president said.
According to Assad, "a more important task than defining terrorist organizations is accelerating the reconciliation process, establishing contact with militants who wish to lay down arms or fight against terrorism together with the Syrian state and its friends and supporters, mainly Russia and Iran."
"We, as a state, have this common approach: we are ready to accept any militant who is ready to lay down arms in order to bring the situation back to normal course and avoid further bloodshed in Syria," he underlined.
