British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Thursday that Syrian President Bashar Assad will remain in place for "a while" thanks to support from Russia, even though Britain's position was still that he remains a block to lasting peace.
"The British long-standing position is that we won't have lasting peace in Syria with that [Assad-led] regime, but regretfully, we do think he's going to be around for a while," Hunt told Sky News.
Nearly eight years into a war that has displaced millions of Syrians, Assad has recovered control of most of the country with support from Russia, Iran, and Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim groups such as Lebanon's Hezbollah.
Last week, the United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus, marking a diplomatic boost for Assad from a U.S.-allied Arab state that once backed rebels fighting him.
