Sikorski: Snowden, Depardieu, and Yanukovych have a fourth for a game of bridge

On Sunday, Syrian rebels entered Damascus and announced that Bashar al-Assad's regime had fallen.

On the same day, Russian agencies began reporting that the ousted leader was in Russia, which was confirmed on Monday by the Kremlin spokesman, who acknowledged that it was a decision by Vladimir Putin.

Journalists asked Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski about the situation in Syria and Russia granting asylum to Assad at a press conference on Monday.

"I think other dictators should also consider that relying on external patrons, especially authoritarian ones like today's Russia, instead of the support of their own people, ends like this," he commented.

"Gentlemen Snowden, Depardieu, and Yanukovych have a fourth for a game of bridge," Sikorski added.

Edward Snowden is a former employee of the U.S. National Security Agency, who was accused of espionage and stealing state secrets. In 2022, he obtained Russian citizenship.

Gérard Depardieu is a French actor, known for sympathizing with the Kremlin. Putin refers to him as his friend, and he received Russian citizenship by presidential decree.

Viktor Yanukovych, on the other hand, is the former pro-Russian president of Ukraine, who was ousted from power following the "Revolution of Dignity" in 2014. Following protests in February, he fled to Russia, where he remains to this day.

Sikorski was asked about his assumptions regarding what might happen in Syria in the coming weeks. "This is of course a very pertinent question, exactly the one the whole world is asking itself," he commented.

The head of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed hope that the new government "will be better, not worse" than the previous one.

"Poland is a co-author of the European Union's position on Syria. So, first of all, condemnation and satisfaction that the exceptionally bloody regime has lost power."

"Secondly, an appeal for no one to try to violate Syria's territory or internationally recognized borders," he stated. Sikorski admitted that establishing a new government with popular support could be "extremely difficult" due to the country's significant ethnic and cultural diversity.

He added that he would support the actions of the High Representative of the European Union on this issue.

Radosław Sikorski was also asked about the President-elect Donald Trump's recent interview with NBC, in which the latter said: "If they (NATO allies) are paying their bills, and if I think they are treating us fairly, the answer is: absolutely, I will stay with NATO."

However, he added that in the opposite case, he would "absolutely" consider taking the United States out of the Alliance.

The Foreign Minister admitted that he didn’t know how to interpret these words. "I assume that there is an intense dialogue between our president, Andrzej Duda, and the president-elect."

"I remind you, our president considers the elect a friend and an American hero, so I hope he will not allow any misinterpretation of these words," he emphasized.

In an interview given on Friday but aired on Sunday for the program "Meet the Press," Trump stated that the United States' continued membership in NATO depends on whether allies "pay their bills" and how they treat the U.S. in trade relations.

Trump said that, first and foremost, NATO members "exploit" the U.S. in trade, treating it terribly. He mentioned that they don’t buy American cars, American food products, or anything from the U.S. He added that, on top of that, the U.S. defends them.

He further noted that if it weren't for his threats toward NATO and the pressure he applied on increasing defense spending during his previous term, European countries "wouldn’t have had the money to fight."