The central issue of Wednesday's meetings in Moscow was whether Russia would give in. An immediate change of policy was obviously not on the cards since it is not in Putin's nature to make sudden concessions under pressure. But will he gradually and incrementally pull the rug from under the Syrian president?
According ...
The Crisis Group recently released a
briefing
on Russia’s partial pull-back of forces from Syria, its implications on the ceasefire as well as on Moscow’s wider strategy ... ... far as to say that Russian airstrikes sometimes provide air cover to certain FSA groups during joint operations against the Islamic State. The fact that Moscow never stopped reaching out to opposition groups that may or may not be loyal to the Assad ...
Interests and opportunities
The Middle East has always had a special meaning for Russia. The area provides access to the Mediterranean Sea, linking Russia with the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, the ... ... marked by a deep split in the Sunni camp. The reason of it was a cross-border activities of an extremist organization - the Islamic State. ISIS has positioned itself as a champion of a global project - the caliphate. Its activists denounce and condemn ...