Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has spoken out for the first time about Europe’s refugee crisis.

In an interview with Russian media, he blamed Western support for what he called ‘terrorists’ for the exodus from Syria amid his country’s civil war. And he accused Europe of inconsistency.

“How can you feel sad at a child’s death in the sea and not feel for the thousands of children who have been killed by the terrorists in Syria?
And also for the elderly, for the woman and men? These European double standards are no longer acceptable,” Assad said.