MOSCOW, December 13 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow admitted on Thursday the possibility of the Syrian opposition winning the ongoing civil war against government forces.
“We have to face up to reality: The trend is that the Syrian regime, the government is increasingly losing control, losing more and more territory,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said.
“Sadly, a victory by the Syrian opposition cannot be ruled out.”
The Opposition Coalition, an alliance of rebel groups seeking to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is becoming more confident of victory, due to arms supplies from abroad and growing international recognition of its legitimacy, he said.
“They are saying that victory is just around the corner: ‘We will soon take Aleppo and then we will take Damascus,’ and saying they are in control of 60 percent of territory,” he said.
More than 100 nations, including the United States and Western European countries, declared their support for the opposition coalition on Wednesday at a gathering in Marrakech, Morocco.
Russia on Wednesday voiced opposition to the US move to recognize the Syrian Opposition Coalition. Moscow maintains militant Islamist factions could come to power in Syria should the Assad government fall, and has repeatedly resisted efforts by Western and Arab countries to undermine the Syrian president.
The National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (SNCROF) was formed on November 11 in Doha, Qatar and proclaimed itself the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.