'Russia to stay out of Syria's domestic affairs'

Moscow would accept anyone as Syrian president who enjoyed popular support, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Thursday.

"Russia never interferes in domestic affairs of sovereign states, we don't engage ourselves in social engineering," reported Xinhua citing the diplomat in an interview.

He said presidential candidacy was the exclusive choice of the Syrian citizens, "who are the only ones who have a right to decide that".

Bogdanov said all other domestic problems, including settlement of the armed conflict in Syria, "are in hands of the Syrian people" too.

The diplomat outlined the task of the international community and Russia as to create a favourable outside environment for the intra-Syrian dialogue.

Meanwhile, Bogdanov expressed Moscow's satisfaction with the process of chemical disarmament in Syria in line with UN Resolution 2,118.

He said the successful work of the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) experts in Syria had been carried out due to openness of Damascus and its readiness to cooperate with the OPCW and the UN.

Russia believes all chemical arsenals in Syria can be dismantled by mid-2014, he said.