"I am not a puppet. I wasn't made by the West to go to the West or any other country. I am Syrian. I'm in Syria and I have to live and die in Syria."

"The price of a Syria intervention is more than the world can afford."

"Within those [protests] you had militants who started shooting civilians and the army at the same time.

"[In ten years time] I have to see myself in Syria. It's not about the position. I don't see myself whether as president or not. It's not my interest. I can see myself in this country, a safe country, a stable country, a more prosperous country.

"My priority is to protect my country"

In Spanish