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Air strikes by the Russian military in support of forces loyal to President Bashar Assad have helped turn the tide in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.

"The actions of the Russian air force, in response to the request of the Syrian leadership -- have really helped to turn around the situation in the country, helped towards reducing the territory controlled by terrorists," Lavrov said at his main annual press conference.

He further stated that his country did not ask Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, nor did it offer him political asylum.

"In both cases, the answer is: 'No,'" Lavrov told his annual news conference. "This is untrue ... No one asked about political asylum, and no one offered anything of the kind."

Lavrov also said "ISIS" militants were building up influence in Afghanistan.

On another level, he stated that the US and the EU are still pursuing a dangerous policy of restraining Russia, including the NATO military build-up near its borders, adding that Moscow is ready to cooperate on an equal and mutually beneficial basis.

"The policy of restraining Russia continues, though it is high time to drop this policy and file it in the historical archives," the head of the Russian diplomacy said.

The Russian foreign minister agreed that relations between Moscow and the west would never be the same again.
"Our western colleagues say sometimes that there will be no more ‘business as usual' with Russia - and I'm confident that statement is absolutely correct," Lavrov said.

"There will be no more business as usual after they attempted to impose agreements on us respecting the interests of either the European Union or the US in the first place, trying to convince us that they will not damage our interests," he said. "That's over now."

Moscow is ready for "close, constructive cooperation" with its western partners, yet solely and only on an equal and mutually beneficial basis, "without interference into each other's internal affairs, with respect for the principal interests of each side," Lavrov said.

Western countries are still trying to "accrue one-sided benefits" and even attempting "to punish us for conducting an independent international policy," the Russian FM said.

"Of course, we take that into account in our actions. But that's not our choice."

"Now we see the counterproductive and dangerous policy in relations with Russia, including the build-up of NATO's military potential near our borders and the creation of global European and Asian segments of a global US missile defense," Lavrov said.

He added that Moscow considers such actions destabilizing and shortsighted.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team