US former Ambassador: Assad should stay to prevent Islamic extremists from taking power in Syria
President Bashar Assad should remain in office to prevent Islamic extremists from taking power in Syria, former US Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst told Sputnik agency.
"I think Russia is right on this very specific point that the only alternatives right now to Assad are Islamic extremists," Herbst said. "I think Assad is a tyrant, he is brutal, but he is not as bad as the Islamic extremists," the source quotes the Ambassador as saying.
Herbst stated he believed the US government had been "a little bit unrealistic" regarding the Assad regime, and Washington needed to adjust to acknowledge the Syrian government’s survival.
Herbst also noted that the United States and Russia had similar interests in Syria, and could cooperate.
"It may be possible to cooperate, but there is a very serious problem in this area, and that is, most of the Russian military activities are directed against not the Islamic extremists, but against the very weak forces that are supported by the United States," he claimed.
However, if Russia stopped supporting military action against US-backed groups in Syria, the way would be open for greater cooperation between Washington and Moscow, Herbst maintained.