Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says his country's civil war has turned into a new theater of conflict between Russia and the West.
"What we've been seeing recently during the last few weeks, and maybe few months, is something like more than Cold War," Assad said in an interview with Russia's Komsomolskaya Pravda published on October 13.
Russia entered full-force into the Syrian conflict more than a year ago by sending bombers to back Syrian ground troops with air strikes, a development that appeared to turn the tide of the war in the regime's favor.
While the United States and European powers back the rebels fighting Assad, they have not similarly provided military aid.
Assad accused Turkey of "invading" his country with its recent campaign to oust Islamic State militants and Kurds from Syria's border areas near Turkey.
Assad also said that Saudi Arabia had offered to help him if he agreed to cut ties with Iran, one of Syria's main allies.
He said the Saudis told him: "If you move away from Iran and you announce that you disconnect all kinds of relations with Iran, we're going to help you. Very simple and very straight to the point."
