'Assad urges Moscow to cut its ties with NATO and the West'

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Syrian President Bashar Assad urged Moscow to cut its ties with NATO and the West, A-Sharq Alawsat reported Thursday, citing Russian media outlets the Syrian president spoke to Wednesday at the start of his visit to the country. The Syrian president was also quoted by the London-based newspaper as saying that although he had not received an offer to deploy Russian Iskander missiles in Syria, he would consider such an offer favorably. In addition, Assad reportedly told his hosts that recent Israeli-Georgian cooperation demonstrated that the time had come for Russia to sell arms to more countries apart from Syria.