"Russia's position is based on its political interests, not on somebody's private concerns"

Tuesday 6 March 2012

"Russia's position is based on its political interests, not on somebody's private concerns"

'But... but I told all my friends that you would change soon...'

"Vladimir Putin's re-election as president will not affect Russia's stance on Syria, analysts say, as the country's foreign minister prepares to meet Arab League ministers in Cairo to discuss ways to resolve the crisis there.
Sergei Lavrov announced the trip during talks with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Moscow on Monday, a day after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin claimed a resounding victory at Russia’s presidential polls. Putin warned the West not to interfere in Syria in the run-up to Sunday's vote and accused the United States of "political engineering" in regions that are "traditionally important" to Russia....
He argued, however, that there was "no need" for new action on Syria, saying that Russia's draft resolution aimed at diffusing the crisis there and the Arab League peace plan for Syria "do not clash on principal issues."
Nourhan el-Sheikh, professor of political science at Cairo University, said Putin "had a vision concerning Syria," and that he wanted the world to "react correctly" to developments there.
"Putin was the one who established a new phase in the Arab-Russian relationship," she told RIA Novosti, saying she looked forward to Putin's "third era."
But Samir Altaqi, the director of the Dubai-based Orient Research Center, said "a lot of questions" remain about whether Putin will be able to "mend the role of Russia in the way that will establish a well-defined national interest for Russia while at the same time having more of a stake in the international community as we are entering a period of tumultuous crises across the region."...
Altaqi added, however, that there would be no "qualitative change" in Russia's role in the Middle East, a view echoed by Yelena Suponina, the head of the Center of Asian and Middle Eastern Affairs at the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies, who said she saw "no grounds" for Russia's relations with Damascus to change significantly after Putin's return to the Kremlin despite "many unresolved issues."
Russia is the biggest supplier of arms to Syria and has a naval base there.
Yevgeny Satanovsky, the president of the Institute for Middle Eastern Studies in Moscow, said Russia's stance would not have altered no matter who won Sunday's elections.
"Russia's position is based on its political interests, not on somebody's private concerns and since these interests have not been altered of late, and no proposals have been made to this effect by our Arab or Western partners, Russia's position [on Syria] will remain the same," he told RIA Novosti.