(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday that Russia is fighting for its national interests in Syria, not for President Bashar al-Assad.
"Of course we are not fighting for specific leaders, we are defending our national interests, on the one hand," Medvedev said in an interview to air on state television.
"And secondly, we have a request from the lawful authorities (of Syria). That is the basis we are working on," he said, quoted on the government website.
Medvedev said Russia in Syria is defending itself against the threat of Daesh coming to its own country.
"The prime minister said this: it's obvious that if we don't destroy these terrorists there, they will come to Russia." Medvedev said that it did not matter to Russia who heads Syria in the future, as long as it is not the Daesh terrorist group.
"Who will lead Syria should be decided by the Syrian people," Medvedev said.
Nevertheless he added that currently Russia is "working on the basis that Assad is the legitimate president," Business Standard reported.
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