“Talks on security issues must not be broken. The only way to do this is through dialogue,” Bashar said in an interview published in the daily Hurriyet newspaper on Friday.

“We are seeking this, but cannot find the same attitude in some US circles,” he added.

Damascus and Washington have had stormy ties for years, but the situation has deteriorated since the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri in Beirut on February 14.

The United States, which has implicated Syria in the killing, has since hardened its tone and called for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

“We see the United States as a power that can prevent chaos in the world, but this role requires a general vision. Unfortunately, this vision is not clear at the moment. That is what worries us and the world,” the Syrian leader told Hurriyet.

He also accused Washington of considering only its own interests in the region and not those of other countries.

“The peace process and the Iraq issue are being evaluated only in terms of US interests... That is why the United States has lost respect, credibility and political power,” he said.

Syria, which has come under international pressure since Hariri’s killing, announced Thursday that it would redeploy troops toward the border.

I was not clear whether this would lead to a full withdrawal of the 14,000 Syrian troops as demanded by UN Security Council in September.