Putin says Assad’s fate was not discussed during Istanbul summit
The participants of the Istanbul summit on Syrian settlement did not discuss who would take over the post of the current Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said Russian president Vladimir Putin at the press conference after the summit.
"We didn't discuss any personalities, of course," the Russian president said. He noted that such discussions are "counterproductive" if there is a desire to "achieve a positive result at the end of the journey".
At the same time, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the international community has a right to speak about Assad. He noted that Paris respects the sovereign right of the Syrian people. "The regime in Syria does not represent the whole Syrian people," the French leader explained. Macron added that many Syrians had fled their country and had been sheltered by France, Germany and Jordan.
Putin said that the future of Syria should be decided by the Syrian people themselves, and for this, the steps have to be taken to resolve the conflict in Syria. In Putin’s opinion, it is necessary that the Constitutional Committee, which will reform the Syrian Constitution, should start its work in Geneva.
The Summit, which took place in Istanbul on October 27 at the initiative of the Turkish President, was attended by Russian President Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Recep Erdogan.