Assad welcomes support of Russia

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad received a Russian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Wednesday and said “Russian support gives us hope to re-establish international balance.” During the meeting, Assad voiced his pleasure over Russian stance in support of the Syrian regime “that face with terrorist attacks promoted by the West, regional and Arab countries.” In response, Ryabkov said Russia is in favor of political solution to the Syrian crisis, and added the crisis became Russian's priority and the world's focus. Russia rescued the Syrian regime from US imminent military threat after Washington and Damascus accepted a Russian proposal to place the Syrian chemical stockpile under the international control. Obama administration threatened Assad regime with military strike due to the 21 August chemical attack on a Damascus suburb that claimed over 1,000 deaths. Apart from a Russian delegation, Assad also received a US delegation consisting of former US Congress members.