DAMASCUS, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said Wednesday that the visit of President Bashar al-Assad to Russia signals Russia's support to Syria.
Mekdad made the remarks during an interview with the state-run Syrian TV, a day after the official SANA news agency declared the surprising visit of Assad to the Russian city of Sochi, where he met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
"The visit of President Assad to Russia and his meeting with President Putin and top military commanders was one of the most important visits and it's a message that Russia stands by Syria and consults with it," Mekdad said.
Further hailing the Russian role, Mekdad said "Syria's allies will not accept any encroachment upon the sovereignty of Syria and we in Syria fought the war that was imposed on us out of dignity."
The remarks of Mekdad came hours after Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, met Wednesday in the Russian city of Sochi to discuss the Syrian crisis.
At the end of their meeting, a final statement was made, in which the three leaders supported a comprehensive dialogue in Syria.
The joint statement stressed the three states' resolve to continue their cooperation to eliminate the Islamic State (IS) in Syria.
The three countries also stressed on the ongoing coordination to reduce violence in Syria and provide help for the Syrians to restore the unity of the country.
Syria's Foreign Ministry later welcomed the outcome of the trilateral talks between the three powers.
In a statement, the ministry said the final statement of the trilateral talks came in the context of the summit between Assad and Putin.
Meanwhile, Mekdad apparently made clear some points his government is clenching on for the next phase in Syria, mainly the elections.
He said that the Syrian administration will not accept to discuss its constitution except with constitutional mechanisms adopted in the current Syrian constitution.
"The elections in Syria run according to a constitutional mechanism and ballot boxes," he said.
