MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting the Syrian opposition groups striving to overthrow Assad. Damascus is also fighting numerous extremist groups, in particular Daesh, a terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.
"Russia never — these days, I mean, during this war, before that war, during the Soviet Union — never tried to interfere in our decision. Whenever they had opinion or advice, doesn't matter how we can look at it, they say at the end ‘this is your country, you know what the best decision you want to take,’" Assad said.
The president said that Russia respected and defended Syria’s sovereignty.
"So, it never happened that they made any pressure, and they will never do it. This is not their methodology," he added.
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