(CNN) Russia is willing to work with other leaders than Bashar al-Assad and happy to entertain alternate solutions to the Syrian war, but has yet to hear any, a Russian insider and member of parliament told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Monday.

"It's up to the Syrian people to choose their leadership." If they choose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, so be it, Vyacheslav Nikonov said.

"If they are going to choose someone else, OK. If you have some better plan, please provide us with a plan, or give us some names with whom we can talk," Nikonov said.

"If you have a name of a person who can substitute (for al-Assad) immediately without causing real trouble in Syria, I would like to hear that name."

Russia has carried out intensifying airstrikes in Syria since last week to bolster al-Assad's regime. Rather than go after ISIS, the U.S. and NATO have said that Russia has almost exclusively attacked other rebels opposed to al-Assad, including the moderate rebels America supports.

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