Syria’s Assad suggests peace talks likely to fail

BEIRUT — President Bashar Assad of Syria, in a rare interview with a foreign newspaper, appeared to dismiss the possibility of serious progress arising from peace talks planned for next month, and to back away from earlier statements by Syrian officials that the government was willing to negotiate with its armed opponents.

“We do not believe that many Western countries really want a solution in Syria,” Assad told Argentina’s Clarin newspaper in an interview published online Saturday, blaming those countries for supporting “terrorists” fighting his government.

“We support and applaud the efforts but we must be realistic,” he said, referring to efforts by the United States and Russia to broker talks in June. “There cannot be a uni- lateral solution in Syria; two parties are needed at least.”

Assad took a hard line throughout the interview, according to a transcript in English. He declared that he would run for election as scheduled in 2014 and would accept election monitors only from friendly countries like Russia and China.

He also accused Israel of directly aiding rebels by providing intelligence on sites to attack, refused to acknowledge any mistakes in his handling of the 2-year-old crisis, and disputed U.N. estimates that more than 80,000 people had died.

All those contentions are likely to fuel what is already widespread pessimism about the potential talks. It is unclear who will talk to whom, and what about. The opposition in exile remains unable to unify fragmented rebel groups.