Damascus, Dec 11 (EFE).- Russia is not going to establish a second airbase in Syria, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an exclusive interview with EFE.

"No, that's not true, and two days ago, they denied this allegation. If there is, they would have announced it, and we would have announced it at the same time, so no," Assad told EFE.

Russian warplanes currently operate from an airbase in the northern Syrian province of Latakia.

The president also denied that Iran, Syria's principal ally in the region, is planning to build a military base of its own on Syrian territory.

"No. They never thought about it, never discussed this," he said when asked about the possibility of an Iranian installation in his country.

Assad's comments followed an emphatic statement from the Russian Defense Ministry that Moscow had no plans to build new airbases in Syria.

"There was no operative need to deploy additional Russian airbases in the territory of Syria claimed by 'armchair strategists' then and there is no such need now," a ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, told reporters Wednesday.

The Russian military, at Assad's request, initiated airstrikes against jihadist groups in Syria on Sept. 30.

Besides planes, the Russian intervention has included the launch of cruise missiles from warships in the Caspian Sea and a submarine operating in the Mediterranean.

The Syrian president insisted that Russia has not asked for anything in return for its military support, "because it's not a trade."

"Let's say in return, Russia have the stability of Syria, of Iraq, of our region - we're not far from Russia, of Russia, and let me go far beyond that, of Europe. Russia now, in Syria, they are defending Europe directly, and again, the recent terrorist events in Europe is the proof that what's going on here will affect them positively and negatively," President Assad said.



SHOT LIST: INTERVIEW WITH SYRIAN PRESIDENT BASHAR ASSAD.



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