Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has announced that he prefers to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding Syria and not to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“Russia controls Syria. So we will deal with the Russians,” Hariri said in English in an interview with Euronews, when asked what the end of Syria's war would mean for Lebanon.
“I think Russia will have made its point,” the PM-designate answered when told that the Syrian regime is likely to recapture the rebel-held northern province of Idlib in the near future.
As for his relation with Russia, Hariri described it as "very good, perfect.”
“I have a very good relationship with Russia and I have a good relationship with President Putin that I respect very much. And I believe he is somebody we can work with," Hariri added.