Lavrov pledges support for Assad in Syria crisis

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Lavrov pledges support for Assad in Syria crisis

Sergey Lavrov the Russian Foreign Minister has said that Moscow will support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad amid a crisis that has gripped Syria for nearly four years.

Press TV reports: “We share the view that the main factor driving the situation in the Middle East is the terrorist threat,” Lavrov said at a joint news conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem in Sochi on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Lavrov made the remarks following a meeting with Muallem, who also held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which the Syrian foreign minister called “very productive.”

Ahead of the Sochi talks, the Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement, saying, “We intend to confirm our readiness to offer the Moscow platform for conducting the corresponding contacts between the Syrian government and a broad spectrum of social and political forces in Syrian society.”

“The issue of mending the political process will assume an important place during the visit,” added the statement.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since 2011. Millions of Syrians have fled their homes as a result of the havoc wreaked by ISIL Takfiri terrorists.