Syria's first lady Asma al-Assad is standing by her man, telling a Russian TV network that she refused offers to flee the war-torn country with her children.

The British-born wife of President Bashar al-Assad said she turned down guarantees of protection and financial security in exchange for leaving Syria.

"Yes I was offered the opportunity to leave Syria, or rather to run from Syria," said Asma in the interview published on the Syrian Presidency's site on Tuesday.

"It doesn't take a genius to know what these people were really after," she continued. "It was never about my well-being or my children. It was a deliberate attempt to shatter people's confidence in their president."