Daily Times

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Saturday that its military intervention in Syria aims to liberate the nation from militants while keeping President Bashar al-Assad in power.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that there were only two possible outcomes for the Syrian conflict – either Assad remains in power or the militants would take over.

“Either Assad is in Damascus or Al-Nusra is,” he said – while referring to former Al-Qaeda affiliate, the Fateh al-Sham Front – “There is no third option here.”

Russia launched a massive air campaign in September last year to back its long-time ally Assad. A recent surge of Russian air strikes on the besieged rebel-held areas of Aleppo have prompted outrage at civilian deaths and the destruction of schools and hospitals.

According to the spokesman, Assad’s regime’s defeat would only lead to ‘new waves of refugees’ and more terror attacks in Europe. “If Damascus is taken over by terrorists, there will be no political anchor to stop anything wrong as the terrorists do not obey masters or puppet-masters,” he warned.

More than 300,000 people have been killed since Syria’s war devolved from a widespread protest movement against Assad’s rule in March 2011 to a multi-front war between rebels, militants, Kurds and the regime’s forces.