MOSCOW, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Any constitutional reform in Syria will only be carried out when it is supported by the Syrian people, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with Russia's NTV television channel.
"If there is a referendum and people support a new constitution, then, of course, we will accept it ... This will be a decision made by Syrians," Assad said, according to the NTV's report broadcast on Sunday.
He said that a constitutional reform has nothing to do with the president or the government of Syria, nor does it have anything to do with foreign countries or international organizations.
"Despite that the war is underway now, we have enough means to restore the country, we are sure about that," he said.
The Syrian armed conflict broke out in 2011 and quickly turned into a full-fledged war, which has killed about half a million people so far.
In particular, Assad slammed the chemical weapons accusations by the West as a "pretext" for foreign intervention, arguing that Syria has not possessed chemical weapons since 2013.
He said that the whole dispute around chemical weapons came up when the "terrorists" controlled by the West were defeated in some Syrian areas.
On April 14, the United States, along with Britain and France, launched joint airstrikes on military targets in Syria, in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian military in the Syrian town of Douma on April 7, which was denied by the Syrian government.
Meanwhile, in the same interview, Assad praised Russia's role in settling the Syrian issue.
Russia started to participate in anti-terrorist operations in Syria in September 2015 at Assad's invitation, predominantly with missile strikes in support of the Syrian army.
