Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has vowed to retake the entire country but warned it could take a "long time," in an exclusive interview with AFP as international pressure grows for a ceasefire.
Speaking at his office in Damascus, hours before a new ceasefire plan was announced early Friday by world powers in Munich, Assad said he backed peace talks but that negotiations do "not mean that we stop fighting terrorism".
Regime forces backed by Russian air strikes have registered major advances in recent days, particularly in northern Aleppo province, where Assad said the army was seeking to sever the opposition's supply route from Turkey.
The push is one of the most significant regime advances since the conflict began in March 2011 with protests against Assad's government, before spiralling into a bloody war that has killed more than 260,000 people.
The advances have prompted consternation from opposition backers including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and Assad said he saw a risk that the two countries would intervene militarily in Syria, pledging that his forces would "certainly confront" them.
He also addressed the massive flow of refugees from his country, saying it was up to Europe to stop "giving cover to terrorists" so Syrians could return home.