Syrian president holds U.S. responsible for global instability

DAMASCUS, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday held the United States responsible for "a state of global instability," the state news agency SANA reported.

The United States and its Western allies "have fabricated a global political and economic crisis and caused a state of global instability, with the aim of undermining Russia's position and its international presence," Assad said during his meeting with Russian president's special envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev.

Russia's firm stance toward the West and the United States is one of the most important factors that make a multipolar world, he added.

The Syrian president also discussed with Lavrentiev regional issues such as the return of the Syrian refugees and the need for the withdrawal of Turkish forces from northern Syria.