MOSCOW, February 24 (Itar-Tass) — The regime of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad is not under siege, the head of the State Duma committee for international affairs, Alexei Pushkov, who recently made a visit to Damascus, told reporters on Friday.

“If we read through the western media, there is an impression that Assad’s regime is under siege,” he said.

“We see a serious confrontation, but Assad relies on large layers of population who support him either actively or passively, i.e. they simply do not take to the streets,” the parliamentarian said.