MOSCOW. Dec 8 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has rejected a claim made by the United States Secretary of State John Kerry that Russian leadership has changed its stance on the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"Going back to the subject of diplomatic tradition, we did not have this conversation, or rather, there was one about Assad but never and nowhere (and he cites not only conversations with me but also with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and makes [these[ conclusions on the basis of these two conversations) have, or could have, such claims been made by either the president of Russia, or myself," he said in an interview with Interfax.
He was commenting on Kerry's remarks that after their recent meetings, as well as talks between the Russian and U.S. presidents, it is possible to conclude that Russia understands, and Iran is beginning to understand that President Assad must step down.
The full version of the interview with Lavrov will be published on the www.interfax.com website.