The main point Sergei Lavrov expressed, Chance pointed out, is that the US-led alliance, comprising of roughly 60 states launching air strikes against ISIL militants’ positions in Syria, has to coordinate its actions with Russia, which has also set up its own military campaign in Syria.
Lavrov has also reinforced the statement by Vladimir Putin, which the president enunciated during an interview on a Russian state channel, claiming that the ultimate goal of Russia in Syria is to instigate a political process that would lead to the resolution of the crisis.
Chance laid out that’s exactly what the Russians are doing: they’ve highlighted that their main objective in Syria is to give assistance to al-Assad, partner with Moscow for a long period of time, to defeat his opponents near Latakia.
But the eventual aim of the campaign is to begin a new political process, in which Bashar al-Assad will retain a strong enough position to bring Syria to peace. That’s what Kremlin is looking for, Chance concluded.
