BAGHDAD. Feb 20 (Interfax) - United States officials admit in private conversations that terrorism is the main threat to Syria, but in formal statements they underscore that terrorism in this country cannot be beaten as long as President Bashar al-Assad stays in power, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"Our U.S. partners are saying that terrorism there can't be beaten as long as Assad is in power," he told a press conference in Baghdad.
"In private conversations, when no one is eavesdropping, our U.S. colleagues admit that it is terrorism, and not Bashar al-Assad's regime, that is the main threat to Syria," the Russian minister added.