Assad says it's wrong to think that Syria is on the verge of extinction

President Bashar al-Assad believes that the opposition is acceptable only if it "works for Syria, defends its country, represents Syrians or part of the Syrian population". 

"We have many different oppositions. You have some of them representing Syrians and others are just countries which invited some of the opposition. So, we have common things with some of the opposition that were invited to Moscow, so this is just the beginning of the dialogue. The dialogue may take a long time," TASS cited him as saying.

According to Assad, the main thing "is to stop the bloodshed, but the question remains: who can influence the militants?" The moderate opposition in Syria is a fantasy, according to the President. "Actually, those controlling the terrorism arena in Syria are either IS or al-Nusra and some other smaller factions," he said. 

Assad believes that one cannot talk about a failed Syria when the people are united behind their government and their army and fighting terrorism and still have institutions working. "We still have subsidies, we still pay salaries, we pay the salaries even in some areas under the control of the terrorists themselves," the President noted. 

Assad said that the assertion that the Syrian government allegedly was on the verge of extinction is wrong. "The Syrian people rallied around their government and the army, which is fighting the terrorists. State institutions work, we pay salaries to people, even in areas that are out of control of the government. We do vaccinations for children there," the president said. 

"Hundreds of hospitals were destroyed, thousands of schools were destroyed, tens of thousands or maybe hundreds of thousands of students don’t go to school. All that will create a fertile habitat and good incubator for terrorism and extremism to grow. But despite all this hardship, the Syrians are determined to continue fighting terrorism, defending their country, and defying hegemony," he said.

Assad said aviation of the international coalition flying in Syrian airspace is illegal. "This is a failure of the international system, which has been represented by the UN and the Security Council, and that is supposed to solve the problems and protect the sovereignty of different countries and prevent war. We see it in Syria, Libya, Yemen, and in other countries," he noted.