Russia’s Lavrov denies Putin asking Assad to step down

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied allegations that Russian President Vladimir Putin had asked Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad to step down from power.

“That’s false. There was no need for such a conversation with President Assad,” Lavrov said at his annual press conference.

The Financial Times reported on Friday that Putin dispatched the late General Igor Sergun in an envoy to Syria at the end of last year to tell Assad to step down.

Lavrov also denied allegations that Moscow was planning to grant Assad political asylum.

He said: “In both cases, the answer is no. This is untrue…no one asked about political asylum and no one offered anything of the kind.”

Remarking on the Russian raids in Syria, the Russian foreign minister said that there was no evidence of such raids and added that Russia has been providing arms to the Kurdish groups fighting Daesh through the Iraqi government in Baghdad.