MOSCOW. Nov 7 (Interfax) - Political dialogue between parties to the Syria conflict should not relate to the fate of incumbent President Bashar al-Assad, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said.
"There is no military solution to the Syrian problem. The forces that want peace in Syria should sit down at the negotiating table and come to terms on Syria's future and the future political system," he told China Central Television in an interview.
"This is unrelated to the fate of individual leaders, although, of course, they cannot be dropped from the context. This is unrelated to the discussion of a personal theme connected with Bashar al-Assad, although he is the incumbent President, a legitimate President and should take part in this," Medvedev said.
"The most important thing is to put peaceful settlement on track, where all constructive forces would be involved. But this is precisely where we have the main problem - how to separate those who want peace and adhere to constructive positions from openly terrorist groups," he said.
"This issue is being debated, rather heatedly. We are locked in a debate with the United States and the Europeans," he said.
The Russian military participate in the Syria operation "aimed primarily at destroying the terrorist nest in Syria and at not letting the terrorist forces spread from Syria to other countries," Medvedev said, adding that some of those terrorists came from Russia and might try to return home afterwards.
"This is why President Putin has taken the decision to help the Syrian Government to bring peace to this country. We will, naturally, abide by our agreements with them but will be guided by the national interests of the Russian Federation," he said.