Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad declared Thursday that he is open to having a dialogue with the United States, Reuters reported, quoting an excerpt of an interview the embattled leader gave to CBS’ “60 Minutes”.

Asked about recent comments by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that Washington would have to negotiate with the Syrian leader to end the conflict there, Assad said, “As principal, in Syria we could say that every dialogue is a positive thing, and we are going to be open to any dialogue with anyone, including the United States, regarding anything based on mutual respect.”

While saying there had been no direct communication between Damascus and Washington, Assad, who has been fighting Islamist and other rebels since 2011, added, “Any dialogue is positive, as I said, in principal, of course, without pressuring the sovereignty of Syria.”

Kerry backtracked on his previous comments regarding Assad on Wednesday, branding him “a brutal dictator with no legitimacy to lead Syria.”

Kerry’s comments caused alarm both abroad and among the American-backed opposition as the Syrianc civil war entered its fifth year, having claimed some 215,000 lives and with no end in sight after two rounds of failed Geneva peace talks.

The comments were criticized by, among others, Britain, where a Foreign Office spokeswoman said that Assad ” has no place in Syria’s future” and made clear that Britain “we will continue applying sanctions pressure to the regime until it reassesses its position, ends the violence and engages in meaningful negotiations with the moderate opposition.”

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki later clarified that Kerry was referring to representatives of the Assad regime, and not Bashar Al-Assad himself.

Assad previously responded to Kerry’s comments by saying he was waiting for American “actions”.