RNA - "The situation has improved dramatically, let’s say, because the terrorist groups, mainly ISIS (ISIL or Daesh) and al-Nusra and like-minded groups in Syria who are Wahhabi terrorist extremist groups, are retreating, or let’s say the area under their control has been shrinking. So, the situation on the ground, from a military point of view, is much better than before," Assad told India's WION television broadcaster in an interview published on Saturday.
The president noted, however, that this was not "the whole picture" of the situation in Syria.
"It’s not only about military conflict, it’s about different things, about the ideology that they [terrorists] try to spread in our region, which is the most dangerous challenge that we may face in the near and long term," Assad stressed.
According to the Syrian leader, such regional countries as Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia as well as several Western states, including the United States, France and the United Kingdom, were providing support for terrorists, which "marked a new era" when terrorism could be used for political ends.
847/940