MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko – West has failed to change its policy from supporting the so-called moderate opposition factions in Syria to fighting terrorism together with Moscow and Damascus, a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party told Sputnik Friday.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Syrian leader Bashar Assad agreed with possible Moscow’s support of Syrian opposition factions in case they exist and are ready to fight terror.
"[Western countries] are in chaos. They haven’t found the way to change their positioning until now. They haven’t found the way to work with Russia in this new strategy," Tarek Ahmad said.
The United States has long supported what it called a “moderate” opposition in Syria. On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that it is hard to differentiate between “moderate” opposition forces in Syria and terrorist groups.
The politician added that the Syrian side was satisfied with the help provided by Russia in the fight against terrorism.
"From the Syrian side, we are satisfied with the Russian help. I think Russia itself is interested in partnership with the Western countries… Russia does not want to be in a conflict with Western countries, in my opinion," Tarek Ahmad stressed.
A US-led international coalition has been conducting airstrikes on ISIL positions in Syria without the approval of either the UN Security Council or Damascus since 2014.
On September 30, Russia began pinpoint airstrikes against ISIL in Syria, following a request from Assad.
After Russia launched its military operation, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Moscow was ready to use information obtained by the US-led coalition to fight ISIL in Syria, calling on coalition members to exchange intelligence on the militant group. Moscow has also asked Washington to help it establish contact with the moderate opposition factions, such as the Free Syrian Army, to set up a political dialogue, but did not get a response.
