We were in war against Russia for 10 years, and it was a hard, difficult war. They announced that they killed me several times.

We need Russia because it’s a permanent member of the [U.N.] Security Council. We need their vote to be on our side in some issues, and we have strategic interests with them.

We don’t want to push Russia to take alternative or other options in dealing with Syria.

The issue of Bashar al-Assad is troublesome for Russia, and our relationship with them — we’re still in the beginning.

We will preserve our rights as Syrians to call for bringing Assad to justice.