Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad stressed on Tuesday his country's determination to reach a political solution to the 27-month-old crisis and to combat "terrorism" on the ground, state-run SANA news agency reported.

Mekdad made the remarks during a meeting Tuesday with a delegation of Poland branch of the European Center for Strategic Studies that included a number of parliamentarians, media figures and representatives of civil societies.

While stressing his country's desire for a political solution, Mekdad underscored that combating "terrorism" is an international responsibility, affirming that Syria is determined to fight " terrorism" in order to restore stability and security to all parts of the country.

The Syrian official also slammed the latest EU decision to lift arms embargo on opposition fighters while keeping the "unjust" economic sanctions on the Syrian people.

Last month, the EU decided to lift arms embargo on Syria's opposition after France and Britain threw all their weight behind the proposal during marathon negotiations in Brussels amid reports that 25 of 27 EU governments opposed the Anglo-French policy.

In his meeting Tuesday, Mekdad said his government had previously warned against the consequences of providing support to the armed groups and of the real nature of their "terrorist" activities.

Despite the warnings, Mekdad said, the West in general and Europe in particular "have turned a blind eye to these facts and even tried to mislead the world's public opinion" about arming the rebels on the ground.

According to SANA, the delegation members voiced readiness to convoy an objective image of what is going on in Syria to create a balanced re-evaluation of the events in the country. Endi

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