Syria: Russia lashes out at 'obsession' with toppling Bashar al-Assad Over almost two years of conflict that the United Nations estimates has already cost more than 60,000 lives, Russia has cooled on Mr Assad but has vehemently resisted Western pressure to call on him to quit. "Our priority is not reaching a geopolitical aim - like the toppling of the Assad regime - but a stabilisation of the situation and a rapid end to the bloodshed to save Syrian lives," said Lavrov. His comments came a day after a top Russian official raised the prospect of a protracted conflict in Syria in which neither Assad nor the rebels would gain the upper hand. The situation can develop in different ways. I think it could become protracted in nature," Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said.