Russia says it won't offer asylum to Syria's Assad
(Read article summary)But that doesn't mean that President-elect Vladimir Putin will soften Russia's opposition to intervention in Syria, as the US had hoped.
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As the US and its allies launched fresh efforts to persuade Russia to back international action against Syria, Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin said yesterday that Moscow had no intention of providing asylum for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if he were forced out.
Mr. Putin's comments marked a rare lack of Russian support for the Syrian leader, a long-time ally and arms trading partner. But it does not seem to indicate a softening of Russia’s opposition to intervention in Syria, where at least 7,500 have died as the uprising approaches its one-year anniversary.
“We aren’t even discussing the issue,” Mr. Putin told Russian news agencies, according to the Boston Globe. Last week he criticized the West for not insisting that the Syrian opposition, not just government troops, pull out of besieged areas.
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