Syrian President Bashar al Assad made "many mistakes during the conflict" Syrian and "it is premature to talk" about a possible asylum in Russia, said Russian President Vladimir Putin told the German daily Bild published Tuesday.
Vladimir Putin thus replied to a question about a possible exile in Russia if Assad lost the election in his country.
"First you have to give the Syrian people the opportunity to comment. And I assure you that if all goes democratically, perhaps Al Asad does not have to leave the country. And it matters not whether president or not," said Putin in a long Moscow interview in the newspaper of greatest circulation in Germany.
The international road map to resolve the conflict in Syria adopted by the Security Council of the UN siras expected negotiations between the parties in January, a transitional government and six months after elections within 18 months.
Putin reiterated his support for the Syrian government, but acknowledged that Assad had made "many mistakes during the conflict," which, since 2011 until now, left more than 260,000 dead and millions displaced.
"You and I know that the conflict would not have reached such proportions if from the beginning he had not been supplied from abroad by huge amounts of money, arms and fighters" accused the Russian president.
"Assad does not seek the destruction of their own people. Fight against those who took up arms against him," said Putin.
The Russian head of state reiterated that the Russian aviation supports government troops but also to armed opposition groups fighting the Islamic State (EI).
"We are talking about hundreds of thousands of armed people who are fighting the EI. We support the army of Assad and the opposition. Some already acknowledged publicly, others prefer to keep quiet, but the work continues," Putin said, without specifying which groups it is .
Syrian rebels, including the Free Syrian (ELS) Army have repeatedly denied any cooperation with the Russian military and, conversely, accused Russian aircraft of bombing their positions.