MINSK. May 12 (Interfax) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad expects that the decision on four de-escalation areas made in Astana will give militants a chance to lay down arms.
"The objective of these areas is to give militants an opportunity to conclude a truce with the government. It is a chance for a man with arms to change his mind. In other words, the laying of weapons is followed by amnesty," al-Assad said in an interview with Belarus' ONT television.
He said that the talks in Astana had been a Russian initiative.
"The meeting in Astana began yielding certain results after numerous attempts to cease fire," he said.
"Naturally, the Russian initiative is correct as a principle. But we will have to wait for some time to speak about the result," the Syrian president said.
"We do not know whether the groups will make use of this chance. Previous initiatives failed due to meddling by some countries, which promoted the growth of military escalation," he said.
"I would like everybody to understand that any escalation is destined to failure," he said.
"Because Syrian and Russian armed forces backed by Iran and Hezbollah will strike on any movement of terrorists, who attempt to disrupt agreements," al-Assad said.