BOGOTA: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on Thursday he welcomes international pressure to accelerate peace talks with the FARC guerrillas, which has mounted in recent weeks as fighting has intensified.
The international community has voiced alarm over Santos's decision in April to resume air strikes on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a move that prompted the rebels to scrap a unilateral ceasefire they had declared in December.
But in his first interview with an international news agency since the end of the ceasefire on May 22, Santos told AFP that recent events would only accelerate the peace process -- including, he said, diplomatic pressure from Europe, which he will visit next week.
"I think people on the outside may grasp the reality of the country we're living in better than us," he said before heading to Brussels for a summit of the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.
The EU, the UN and Norway, which is facilitating the peace talks, have all called recently for a bilateral ceasefire in Colombia -- something Santos has adamantly refused, arguing it would only delay a final peace deal.
Asked if he saw that as a warning sign, Santos -- who is pushing for Europe to set up a fund to assist post-conflict Colombia -- replied with a smile: "On the contrary."
He said he believed the "very positive" international pressure was directed mainly at the FARC.
"Colombians' patience is not infinite so any pressure to accelerate the peace process is welcome," he said at the presidential palace in Bogota.
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