The new president of Syria wants to be friends with Russia, but demands the extradition of Bashar al-Assad

He gave an interview at the St. Regis in Washington. "In an hour-long conversation, the former militant, who spoke through an interpreter, discussed the importance of restoring Syria's relations with the United States.

He also candidly assessed the ongoing negotiations with Israel, post-war sectarian violence and his own incredible journey from an Iraqi militant and rebel leader in Syria to the first Syrian head of state to meet with a US president in Washington," reported journalists Suzanne Giorgi and To you Raji. Al-Sharaa knows that Bashar al-Assad is in Moscow under the protection of Vladimir Putin. He recalled that Syria had been at war with Russia for 10 years: "It was a difficult war.

They claimed several times that they killed me. " But at the same time, Syria needs Russia, he said, because it is a permanent member of the UN Security Council. "We need her voice to be on our side on some issues, and we have strategic interests with them. We do not want to push Russia to alternative or other options for solving the Syrian issue. The issue of Bashar al-Assad causes concern in Russia, and our relations with it are still at the beginning of the journey.

We, the Syrians, will retain the right to demand that Assad be brought to justice," said the new Syrian president. Al-Sharaa will seek the lifting of sanctions on Syria and improve relations with the United States. "The most important task is to start building relations between Syria and the United States, because in the last 100 years these relations have not been very good.

We looked for common interests between the United States and Syria and found that we have many common interests that we can develop, such as security and economic interests. Stability in Syria will affect the entire region, and instability in Syria will also affect the region," al-Sharaa said.

When asked about the disappearance of The Washington Post reporter Austin Tice in Syria, the new president said that the war in Syria was unleashed by the "former regime" against the Syrian people, and that 250,000 people, both Syrian and foreign, were missing. And a special commission is looking for them. Al-Sharaa admitted that he had fought against the US, but in his opinion, there is no shame in fighting if it is done for a noble cause.

"I have fought so many wars, but I have never caused the death of an innocent person," he said. Regarding the ongoing fighting in Syria, he said it was a "transitional period" in which "situations, conditions and laws differ from those in stable countries. " Al-Sharaa said Syria went to war with Israel 50 years ago. Then, in 1974, a disengagement agreement was signed that lasted 50 years, but after Assad fled, Israel expanded its presence in Syria.

The new president is negotiating and wants Israel to return to the borders that existed before December 8. "Israel occupied the Golan Heights to protect Israel, and now it is imposing conditions on southern Syria to protect the Golan Heights. So in a few years, maybe they will occupy the central part of Syria to protect the south. This way they will reach Munich," al-Sharaa said.

It will be recalled that earlier it became known that Bashar Assad, the fugitive Syrian dictator, was poisoned in Moscow, but he survived. Bashar al-Assad and his family fled Damascus, Syria in December 2024. In late November 2024, Syrian rebels launched an offensive against Bashar al-Assad's pro-government forces and Russian forces. But in the end, Assad had to flee, as did his family members. Later, his son Hafez Asad said that he was taken out of Syria by the Russians on a military plane.