Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Rome 2015 MED - Mediterranean Dialogues forum in Rome, Italy. (Reuters Photo)
Rome:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that the West's insistence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step aside before it works more closely with Russia in the fight against Islamic State is a "huge mistake".
Speaking at a conference in Rome, Lavrov said the Western coalition fighting Islamic State had decided not to coordinate fully with Russia because it disagreed with its support of Assad.
"To say that we can only command the support of all coalition members when Assad is gone and until then we will be quite choosy as to the means of fighting terrorists, I believe is a huge mistake," Lavrov said.
"We believe his (Assad's) fate can only be resolved by the Syrian people themselves," he said.
Speaking at a conference in Rome, Lavrov said the Western coalition fighting Islamic State had decided not to coordinate fully with Russia because it disagreed with its support of Assad.
"To say that we can only command the support of all coalition members when Assad is gone and until then we will be quite choosy as to the means of fighting terrorists, I believe is a huge mistake," Lavrov said.
"We believe his (Assad's) fate can only be resolved by the Syrian people themselves," he said.
© Thomson Reuters 2015
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