PARIS, February 16. /TASS/. Donald Trump’s executive order banning admission of Syrian refugees targets extremists but not ordinary people, Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Thursday.

"It is targeted against terrorists seeking to infiltrate into the West. And this has already happened. We saw it happen in Europe, for instance, in Germany," he said in an interview with France’s Europe 1 radio station. "Trump wants to ban entry to the country for such people."

However, in his words, his major concern is "how to have Syrians return to their homeland rather than how to send them to the United States."

"I cannot be glad to see Syrian nationals leave for other countries," he stressed.

"Most of Syrians are leaving to flee terrorism and because of the Western sanctions," he said and called on the US president and other Western leaders to "lift the embargo and stop supporting terrorists.".