Assad Resignation will not solve Syria and Refugee Crisis: Russian Foreign Ministry

Appearing on Rossiya-1 TV on Thursday, Zakharov said that the resignation of Assad would not solve the current refugee crisis. Commenting on reports aired on the US-American FOX News TV channel, Zakharov said that:

"The roots (of the refugee crisis) lie in the Middle East conflicts. And everyone understands too well that Assad is not the problem. It is now the most enticing topic to build up propaganda effect around that should Assad step down the influx of migrants will stop,” she said, commenting on Fox News’ statements accusing Russia of support to Bashar Assad’s policy.”

The Russian MoFA spokeswoman stressed the dangers of demonizing heads of State like Assad or the ousted and murdered Libyan head of State Muammar Qaddafi, saying:

"The fight against the ‘universal evil’ personified by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi brought about no positive results,” she reminded. "Yes, the ‘universal evil’ in the person of Gaddafi exists no longer, but the country has ceased to exist too… The territory is simply in the hands of international terrorism and is used by it as a stronghold. Now a question to those who believes that the situation is to change as soon as Assad steps down – what will be after that? … The Western mass media needed an illusory enemy to produce an appearance of fighting against and migrants had just thrust the problems of the region into the spotlight. "For instance, terrorism growth as a consequence of endless change of regimes in bypassing of the international law.”

Zakharov noted that Russia was as concerned about the refugee crisis as the European Union, which she described as Russia’s partner, saying:

"Europe is our organic partner. We need it strong but not weakened. We want to see it strong from the point of view of strategy, economic and humanitarian ties.”

Moscow, along with Cairo, have repeatedly stressed the need for a broader international coalition against ISIS / ISIL as well as against terrorism in general. Moscow has since the end of 2014 repeatedly hosted meetings between members of the Syrian (foreign-backed) opposition and the Syrian government.

Zakharova underpinned that the Syrian Arab Army is the vanguard in the fight against ISIS, a.k.a. ISIL or Daesh. The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman also referred to the recent statement by Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, saying:

"I also took notice of Mr. Kurz’s words, who said it openly that it was high time to begin to speak with Damascus about joint efforts against Islamic State. … It is a keystone statement because the only, so to say, real force on the Earth that is fighting against Islamic State is the Syrian army, and the army of Iraq. And there is no denying this fact.”

The Austrian Foreign Minister’s statement was made during a visit to the Iranian capital Tehran on 8 Sepetember. At a press conference, Sebastian Kurz told reporters that the West must enroll support from Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad as well as from Iran and Russia to repel the self-proclaimed Islamic State.

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