Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West against arming Syrian rebels on Sunday, saying the foes of President Bashar al-Assad ate human organs and should not be supported.

In his first public comments since a decision by President Barack Obama’s administration to arm rebels trying to overthrow Assad, Putin said Russia wanted to create the conditions for settling the two-year conflict.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I think you will not deny that one does not really need to support the people who not only kill their enemies, but open up their bodies, eat their intestines, in front of the public and cameras,” Putin said at a joint news conference in London with Prime Minister David Cameron.

“Are these the people you want to support? Is it them who you want to supply with weapons?”

(Reporting by Alexei Anishchuk and Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Maria Golovnina and Andrew Osborn)