MOSCOW, May 23. /ITAR-TASS/. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation does not exclude the possibility of a Western military operation against the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria, said General Valery Gerasimov, head of the General Staff, at the 3rd International Security Conference in Moscow.

If Assad’s regime falls, radical Islamists will come to power in Syria, Gerasimov added. In that case, the country will turn into a transit center for exporting terrorism, extremism, arms and drugs from the Middle East to Europe and other parts of the world, the General noted.