Maria Zakharova to Vestnik Kavkaza: the only thing Russia wants in Syria is to settle crisis

The only thing Russia wants, supporting military operations against militants in Damascus, is the actual settlement of the Syrian crisis, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said, answering a question from Vestnik Kavkaza.

"Officially, our vision of the development of the situation on the Syrian settlement is contained in the resolution of the UN Security Council and the International Syria Support Group, and also in the whole package of documents adopted by Moscow and Washington on September 9. Moscow's official position on settlement of the situation in Syria is fully disclosed there," she noted in the first place, adding that globally Russia wants one thing - to end the war in Syria.

"We want a real settlement. In our opinion, it is possible if the process goes in the two directions of the beginning of 2016. In the first place, it is a political dialogue between Damascus and the opposition. But this opposition should be represented not by one group of people, posing themselves as an opposition, but by an internal and external opposition, and those who support the Syrian government, and those who wants Assad to leave. The entire opposition front must unite and start these negotiations," Maria Zakharova said.

"The second most important direction is the unconditional fight against terrorism, which, unfortunately, every day gets new signals from a number of countries, both Western and regional, that they do the right thing and their victory is around the corner. Such a support of terrorists is a road to a completely opposite direction. Inspiring terrorist groups and extremists leads to the fact that they become part of larger terrorist organizations, and it is contrary to Russia's global approach," the Foreign Ministry spokesperson stressed.

"We believe that the Syrian settlement must include these elements. The end result is free, sovereign, democratic, multi-religious, secular, unitary and coherent Syrian state with democratic institutions," Maria Zakharova concluded.