L'ombrello del direttore

Question 4: Have there been any attempts, even through mediators or third parties, by the British government or its intelligence branches to establish communications with Syria for intelligence for whatever reason? 
President Assad: No. We did have communications from different intelligence agencies in Europe, but it was stopped recently because they’re not serious. They want to exchange information despite their governments being politically against ours, so we said when you have a political umbrella for this kind of cooperation, or let’s say when you change your political position, we’re ready. Now, there’s no cooperation with any European intelligence agencies including the British.

Non si va a trattare con Bashar Al Assad, o con uno dei suoi, senza offrire una contropartita con un livello minimo di copertura politica.
Sarebbe interessante sapere a cosa era dovuta la distanza tra domanda e offerta.