U.S. starting to understand that terrorism in Syria greater threat than Assad - Lavrov
MOSCOW. Dec 30 (Interfax) - The U.S. administration is beginning to understand that terrorism in Syria is a greater threat than Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but it is hard to say what the U.S. policy toward Syria will be like following presidential elections in the U.S., Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with the Zvezda TV channel.
"It's for sure that the current administration is coming to understand that terrorism in Syria and in the Middle East is much more horrible than Bashar al-Assad is and than Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi used to be," Lavrov said.
"It's very difficult to say what the U.S. foreign policy in Syria and in the region as a whole will be like following elections," as it has happened on numerous occasions that "election promises are either forgotten or a president is unable to deliver on them," Lavrov said.
"Take, for instance, the Guantanamo prison, which U.S. President Barack Obama promised to close down. His flashy promise was: 'We would close down this shameful prison in Guantanamo, which goes against all American values, the Constitution, and so on'. He also promised to deal with the CIA flying prisons in Eastern Europe - nothing has happened there, either, and everything has been swept under the rug," Lavrov said.