The Syrian ambassador to the US, Imad Mustafa, underlined Syria’s desire to be brought into the Western fold in a comment in Washington last month: “We desire peace to recognise each other and end the state of war. Let us make peace.”
However, Assad has resorted to balancing between the interests of US imperialism and Russian nationalism to defend his own interests. In August, in Moscow, he signed military agreements saying “we are ready to cooperate with Russia in any project that can strengthen its security.”