![](https://static.standard.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2016/10/14/11/aleppo.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=1000)
Syria's conflict is turning into a clash between the West and Russia, the war-torn country’s president said today.
Bashar Assad also vowed to “clean” the besieged city of Aleppo and “push back terrorists” towards Turkey.
But his military, supported by Russian airstrikes, has been accused of killing scores of civilians in rebel-held parts of the city, with attacks intensifying in recent days.
Speaking to Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, Assad said: “What we’ve been seeing during the last few weeks, and maybe few months, is something like more than Cold War.
“I don’t know what to call it, but it’s not something that has existed recently, because I don’t think that the West and especially the United States has stopped their Cold War, even after the collapse of the Soviet Union.”
Barack Obama was due to hold talks with his senior foreign policy advisers at a meeting of the National Security Council today to consider military and other options in Syria.
Some Washington officials are calling for America to act more forcefully in Syria or risk losing influence over moderate rebels and Arab, Kurdish and Turkish allies against Islamic State.
However, the US president is believed to be reluctant to order airstrikes on Syrian government targets.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ratified an agreement with the Syrian government that allows Russia to use the Hmeimim air base in Syria indefinitely, the Kremlin said today. Moscow has also announced plans to build a permanent naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are due to meet in Geneva, Switzerland, tomorrow, to resume efforts to find a diplomatic solution in Syria after a short-lived ceasefire collapsed.
Mr Kerry will then fly to London for talks on Sunday being hosted by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who is urging the West to do more to “end the hell” in Syria.
He is calling for military and other options to be explored.
They could include no-fly zones, no- bombing zones — whereby if bombs are dropped in an area the US-led Coalition would respond by destroying a Syrian regime target such as a radar station or runway — and increased sanctions.
Rescue workers said Syria’s military backed by Russian warplanes had killed more than 150 people in eastern Aleppo this week where more than 200,000 are believed to be trapped.
In a government-held area of western Aleppo, at least four children were killed and 10 wounded yesterday when shells landed near a school.
Despite the bloodshed, there were no signs of a looming truce.
“You have to keep cleaning this area and to push the terrorists to Turkey, to go back to where they come from or to kill them. There’s no other option,” said Assad. “Aleppo is going to be a very important springboard to do this.”
MORE ABOUT