“Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad also insisted that Russia had not wavered in its support, despite comments by President Vladimir Putin suggesting a more conciliatory tone towards the West. ‘Syria has taken every measure to retaliate against… an aggression,’ he said, although he refused to provide any clue as to what that might mean. ‘The Syrian government will not change position even if there is World War III. No Syrian can sacrifice the independence of his country,’ he added. US President Barack Obama is busy trying to convince Congress to approve a strike against the Assad regime in retaliation for a suspected deadly poison gas attack on August 21.”
