MOSCOW, May 10. /TASS/. The only mission the United States is accomplishing in Syria is supporting terrorists, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told the Greek newspaper Kathimerini published by the president’s office on Thursday.

"We all know very clearly that the only mission the United States has been carrying out in Syria is supporting the terrorists, regardless of their names, or the names of their factions," Assad said when asked to comment on US President Donald Trump’s remarks that the US mission in Syria has been accomplished.

Trump said in late March that with the completion of the military operation against the Islamic State (IS, terror group, outlawed in Russia - TASS), the US military presence in Syria is pointless, and Washington will soon withdraw its troops from that country. In April, US Permanent Representative to the UN Nikki Haley said the US will not leave Syria until it fulfills its tasks.

According to General Joseph Votel, Commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), the presence of US troops in Syria will be required to stabilize the situation in the areas liberated from terrorists, secure the return of civilians to their homes and the country’s long-term reconstruction during the stabilization period. There are about 2,000 US military servicemen in Syria.

Alleged chemical attack

Information about the use of chemical weapons was feigned by the West and is a farce, he said.

"It’s a farce, it’s a play, it’s a very primitive play, just to attack the Syrian Army (on April 14 - TASS)," he stated.

"When the terrorists lost (in Eastern Ghouta, the suburb of Damascus - TASS), the US, France, the UK and their other allies who want to destabilize Syria lost one of their main cards, and that’s why they had to attack the Syrian Army, just to raise the morale of the terrorists and to prevent the Syrian Army from liberating more areas in Syria," Assad said.

According to the Syrian leader, "in all the investigations in Douma, people said, ‘We didn’t have any chemical attack, we didn’t see any chemical gas or smell any.’"

"We don’t have a chemical arsenal since we gave it up in 2013, and the international agency for chemical weapons conducted investigations about this, and it’s clear or documented that we don’t have any," the Syrian president said.

Russia's role in Syria 

Russia will not allow WWIII to be unleashed in Syria by virtue of its political wisdom, he said. 

When the Syrian leader was asked whether he was concerned that WWIII could begin in his country, he said, "No, for one reason," going on to emphasize that Russia has wise leadership.