Assad says he's ready for a ceasefire

[Anthea]

Assad says he's ready for a ceasefire providing Turkey stops supplying ISIS

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Saturday that he is ready for an end of hostilities in Syria, on the condition that “terrorists” in the country do not exploit a possible agreement and receive assistance from other countries.

In an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais, Assad said there would need to be a guarantee that no group will take advantage of the ceasefire.

“It’s about preventing other countries, especially Turkey, from sending more recruits, more terrorists, more armaments, or any kind of logistical support to those terrorists,” he said.

The embattled president said his country has made significant gains in recent months after Iranian and Russian intervention, and that the government forces in Aleppo are not aiming to regain the city, but rather cut off main roads between Turkey and opposition forces.

“Definitely the Russian and the Iranian support were essential for our army to make this advancement,” Assad said. “To say that we couldn’t have made it is a hypothetical question.”

Russia’s intervention in Syria however has drawn strong international condemnation after reports that Russian missiles have killed hundreds of civilians and after a Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders) affiliated hospital was hit by an airstrike in Idlib province on Feb.16.

Assad said there was no evidence showing Russians have attacked any civilians and are instead targeting “the terrorists.”

“Actually, it’s the Americans who did this, who killed many civilians in the northeastern part of Syria, not the Russians,” he said. “Not a single incident has happened regarding the civilians so far, because [Russians] don’t attack in the cities; they attack mainly in the rural areas.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov reached a preliminary agreement for a ceasefire in Syria although no final decision had been reached.

http://www.nrttv.com/EN/Details.aspx?Jimare=5468