Syrian President Bashar al-Assad mocked the U.S. sanctions that will be imposed against Russian President Vladimir Putin, emphasizing that "the West is funny and sometimes stupid." Russian journalist Vladimir Solovyov asked Assad, "The Americans will impose sanctions against the Russian president, and as I know, you have also been under sanctions from many countries for several years. Based on your experience, what would you advise our president? How should he act in response to such political steps?"
Assad replied, "Perhaps my next meeting with President Putin will be to discuss what we should do with our assets in American banks; this is a big problem. The West is funny and stupid sometimes. But notice what is happening: The blockade on Cuba started sixty years ago, and the blockade on Syria began in 1979, the same year it started on Iran, and then on North Korea. It continued to expand, and now the blockade on Russia and the blockade on China persists. What will the result be? After a time, the West will discover that it is the one being blocked."
He continued, "Because countries deal with each other, the result is that the dollar is losing its value and weight, which is a good thing. Therefore, I believe that the Western blockade against other countries undermines and weakens the dollar and serves our interests in the long run. I do not see it as bad; I see it as foolish from our perspective. However, it is better for them to continue with it because it serves our global interests. I do not mean just Syria and Russia, but it serves the interests of most of the world in the medium to long term, not necessarily long term, but medium and long term."
