US State Department spokesman Ned Price said during a press conference that his country’s position on the Assad regime has not changed.
Stressing that it is not the right time to improve relations with the Assad regime.
Price called on all countries of the world to meet the humanitarian needs of the Syrian people after the earthquake, warning at the same time against normalization with the Assad regime.
“We believe we can fulfill that, and that countries around the world can fulfill these two imperatives,” he added. He emphasized that “urgent humanitarian necessity and meeting the needs of the Syrian people” are the focus of his country now.
Price pointed out that the humanitarian emergency that the Syrian people have faced for more than a decade has been caused “to a large extent by the actions of the Assad regime and the brutality that the regime has inflicted on its people.”
He continued, “Even as the world reacts with historic levels of generosity towards the people of Turkey and Syria, we believe it is important not to forget the Assad regime’s record even as we prioritize this humanitarian response.”
Commenting on the visit of Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry to Damascus, Price explained that the statement issued by Shoukry confirmed that it was a “humanitarian gesture.”
It is worth noting that the US House of Representatives approved a bill regarding the earthquake that struck northwestern Syria and southern Turkey on February 6.
