While Assad’s visit to Moscow did not yield breakthrough agreements, it confirmed the importance of the Syrian dossier for Russia, contrary to the claims that Moscow is slackening its focus on Syria
Syrian President Bashar Assad arrived in Moscow on March 14, 2023, for talks with his Russian counterpart—bringing along a representative
delegation
(almost all the key ministers in the government: foreign affairs, defense, economy, etc.), which is indicative of the numerous issues on the Russian-Syrian agenda.
Besides, the arrival ...
What kind of Syria would we like to see and might we see by March 2031?
On 6 March 2011, the local security services in the small town of ... ... day, a mass rebellion against the central government broke out in Daraa to quickly spread to neighbouring towns and villages.
Russia and the EU in Syria: Need for New Approaches? RIAC Working Paper?
Had I been told back then, in March 2011, that the civil ...
... trends are not yet entirely clear, which makes this rivalry far more dangerous than the USSR-US confrontation.
Andrey Kortunov:
Russian Foreign Policy in the Middle East: Achievements and Limitations
Thus far, it is difficult to say confidently what direction ... ... be even more relevant there than in other parts of the crumbling, yet interconnected world.
“Old” internal conflicts in Syria, Libya and Yemen, new-type protest movements demanding a change of the ruling elites (the “everyone means everyone” ...
Framing a quid pro quo in Syria
After more than eight years of conflict in Syria, it is now clear that there won’t be a near-term political transition ... ... governments continue to hope that these cards can be used to extract compromises out of Damascus.
RIAC Report “Squaring the Circle: Russian and European Views on Syrian Reconstruction”
For some European governments the path to possible progress also depends ...
Putin’s Syrian intervention was limited to areas around the port of Tartus and the Latakia air base, both heavily upgraded by Russia. His aim was not a full occupation, but a gradual expansion of a strategic corridor from Damascus to Aleppo. He did not fear US repercussions. Obama’s 2013 red line back-step had convinced him the president would be passive in the face of aggression....
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 to Russian experts in Moscow, there are multiple reasons why the Kremlin will not. They range from concerns about future chaos in Syria in the aftermath of regime change to the damage that would be inflicted on Russia's reputation ...
Within three days of a bizarre chemical gas poisoning incident in Khan Sheikhoun, Syria, the United States ratcheted up its global judge, jury and executioner role by firing a salvo of Tomahawk missiles on a ... ... Wahhabi lobby, led by the likes John McCain, Lyndsey Graham and Hillary Clinton. Any deviation from this norm was considered a Russian plot. However, when those Tomahawks were launched on April 6, Washington had magically found a president for all Americans; ...
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 in this conflict. Analyzing Russia’s latest actions in Syria, including the ceasefire deal and partial withdrawal of forces, most experts (as well as the Crisis ...
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 ... ... viable than it could have been expected within a paradigm of a modernity.
EPA/YOUSSEF BADAWI
Boris Dolgov, Omar Mahmood:
The Syrian Conflict: Russian and GCC
Perspectives
Domestic developments in the region were either caused or accompanied by much more ...
Because the initial strikes by the Russian Air Force were not targeted only against ISIS, it became clear that the operation has also been meant to support the Syrian Arab Army of President Bashar Assad and stabilize the frontline. Meanwhile, restoring Damascus’s control over the whole of Syrian territory seems unlikely.
Russian military involvement in the Syrian conflict has sparked the ire of regional actors, primarily Saudi Arabia and Turkey who have seen their interests infringed upon. However, the Saudis continue to arm the Syrian antigovernment forces trying to ...
