DAMASCUS (Sputnik) — The Syrian president stressed the Russian military came to Syria’s aid only after Damascus had explicitly asked it to help roll back Islamist advance in September 2015. The presence of the Daesh terrorist group, outlawed in Syria and Russia, has been shrinking steadily ever since, Assad said.
"Since that time [2011], every political step and later military step has been taken – regarding the Syrian issue – in consultation with the Syrian government," Assad told several EU media.
This approach was the reason why Russia's activity in Syria was no "colonization," according to the Syrian leader.
"That’s why there is no colonization, there are relations between Syria and Russia that go back more than six decades and it has always been like that in different circumstances," Assad added.
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