President Vows to Confront 'Western Scenarios' Targeting Unity, Sovereignty of Syria

"Our war on terrorism will not cease as long as there is one terrorist left. We will continue to confront the Western scenarios that target the unity and sovereignty of our country," Assad said as quoted in presidency's Telegram account, Middle East News reported.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that some fficials in Washington are aiming to maintain a foothold in Syria for a long time, “if not forever”, using chemical weapons provocations to achieve this objective.

There are no grounds “to doubt the willingness of some US officials to keep a foothold [in Syria] for a long time, if not forever, and contribute to the collapse of the Syrian Arab Republic,” Lavrov said at a news conference in Moscow.

Russian tio diplomat has also noted on Monday that Moscow is concerned by the attempts to divide Syria, such fears are caused by the actions taken by the United States.

"Of course, when we talk about the need to preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria, it is a requirement not only of the international law in general, but specifically of resolution 2254, we cannot but observe with dismay the attempts to divide Syria. Such fears arise when you look at the plans that the United States is beginning to implement on the ground, primarily to the East of the Euphrates, on the vast territories between this river and Syria's borders with Iraq and Turkey," Lavrov added.

Lavrov had also said Russia had evidence that the US involvement in Syria had nothing to do with combatting terrorism. Speaking during a visit to Namibia, the foreign minister asserted that Washington is willing to keep the Al-Nusra Front terrorist group as a “plan B” to change the leadership in Damascus.

Since the beginning of the war in Syria the US and its allies has been supporting the Syrian opposition, urging Assad to step down as part of the crisis settlement. In spite of the fact that the US-led coalition's proclaimed goal is to combat terrorism in the country, it has been continually accused of backing Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) in Syria, as numerous reports allege that Washington has been rescuing terrorists from encirclements and hot zones as well as relocating them from Syria and Iraq, where militants have been losing ground.

The US-led coalition of 68 nations has been conducting airstrikes against what are said to be Daesh targets inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate.

The military alliance has repeatedly been accused of targeting and killing civilians. It has also been largely incapable of fulfilling its declared aim of destroying the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.