Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the international players to revise their stances on Syria.
In an interview with Russia Today, Putin addressed his interviewer by saying: "Don't you think our counterparts in negotiations ought to revise their [stances] as well? Because if we look back at the events in the past few years, we'll see that quite a few of our counterparts' initiatives have not played out the way they were intended to."
"And look at what's going on in Arab countries. There have been notable developments in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, etc. Would you say that order and prosperity have been totally ensured for these nations? And what's going on in Iraq?"
He further clarified Moscow's stance on Syria: "What concerns us, and I want to emphasize this once again, is the current hostilities in Syria. But at the same time, we are just as concerned about the possible conflict.""In our opinion, the most important task today is, ending the violence. We must urge all the warring parties, including the government and the so-called rebels, the armed opposition, to sit down at the negotiating table and decide on a future that would guarantee security for all stakeholders in Syria," he added.
Putin further mentioned that "We realize that this country needs a change, but this doesn't mean that change should come with bloodshed."
In parallel, Putin accused the rebels "of refusing to recognize Geneva's road map; and many of the negotiating parties have also quietly backed down."
"I believe that the first thing to do is to stop shipping arms into the warzone, which is still going on. We should stop trying to impose unacceptable solutions on either side, because it is a dead-end. That's what we should do," he said.
On al-Qaeda's presence in Syria, the Russian President warned that "today, some want to use militants from al-Qaeda or some other organizations with equally radical views to accomplish their goals in Syria."
" This policy is dangerous and very short-sighted. In that case, one should unlock Guantanamo, arm all of its inmates and bring them to Syria to do the fighting - it's practically the same kind of people," he added and noted that "we should bear in mind is that one day these people will get back at their former captors."
