"It is always important in politics to read between the lines, not to be electoral, does not matter what they ask. The translation of their statement is for Russia – 'Please stop the advancement of the Syrian army against the terrorists.' That is the meaning of that statement, forget of all the rest. You went too far in defeating the terrorists that should not happened. You should tell the Syrians to stop this, we have to kill the terrorists and save them," Assad said.
Moreover, the West ignores killings of civilians by jihadists in Aleppo and Daesh attacks on Palmyra, as it is just concerned about the advance of the Syrian government army, Assad added.
"If it was captured by the government there would be worrying about the heritage. If we liberate Aleppo from the terrorists, there would be, I mean, the western officials and the mainstream media, they are going to be worried about the civilians, they are not worrying when the opposite happens, when the terrorists kill those civilians or attack Palmyra and start destroying the human heritage, not only the Syrian heritage," Assad said.
Syria has been engulfed in civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting the Syrian opposition groups striving to overthrow Assad. The conflict has been exacerbated by the rise of extremist groups such as the Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (previously known as al-Nusra Front) and Daesh, both outlawed in Russia.
