In Syria, Russian Forces 'Fight For Long-Term Geopolitical Interests of Europe'

"In fact, Russia is the only one fighting against Daesh jihadists. The Western powers are only pretending that they are involved in this fight. However, in reality, even when they actually do anything, they are either purely symbolic in nature or, even worse, somehow aid Daesh," Dr Konstantinos Grivas, Director of Research in the Centre for Asian Studies (CAS) focusing on Russia, China, and Eurasia said in his interview with RIA Novosti.

"Russia is fighting not for some geopolitical or geostrategic interests but for the stabilization of the situation in the region which is to the benefit of the West, humanity and civilization as a whole," the expert added.

Dr Grivas, who teaches Geopolitics at the Hellenic Military Academy and Geography of Security at the Turkish and Modern Asian Studies Department of the University of Athens, also noted that the attempts to topple Syria's legitimate President Assad have already had some very serious consequences.

"The West's reckless choice to destabilize the Assad regime has in fact created a dangerous "black hole" in the region which is breeding turmoil," he said.

The expert further explained that the huge influx of refugees and migrants is only a part of this turmoil. Hence Russia's efforts to stabilize the situation come as a great relief to the West and Western Europe in particular.

In other words, he said, Russian forces and their allies in the region are fighting for the long-term geopolitical interests of Europe.

In this way, Dr Grivas says he can't understand the radical and anti-Russian rhetoric of some European powers.

Commenting on the Russian operation in the country, the expert noted that it has saved President Assad. If upon its launch it seemed that Assad was losing, now it seems that he is winning, albeit experiencing some occasional heavy losses.

"However I think it will be hard to defeat Daesh," he told RIA Novosti.

"Russian Forces demonstrated that they have stabilized the situation: their allies are steadily advancing however the clashes will last for a long time, as it is very hard to reach a decisive victory," he said.

The expert noted that in any case, the relatively stabilized situation in the country paves the path to a stable future rather than to the chaos it experienced before.

Dr Grivas compared the ongoing Syrian conflict with the post-war situation in Libya. Syria, he said, will be able to find a certain solution thanks to Russia's military interference. While in Libya, there is a "chaos of lawlessness" and no opportunities to restore the country in the nearest future.

The Russian campaign is reaching its goals, the expert said, but there is a real need to stop the western support of the jihadists and form a broader anti-terrorist coalition. However, only Russia seems to be interested in creating such an alliance, he added.

"The aerial might of special forces against certain targets, unorthodox operations, classic military cooperation with Assad's forces who are able to act more flexibly on the ground is an effective modus operandi. There has been large progress compared to what we saw at the start of the conflict. The system is working," the expert said.

However he reiterated that it will be very hard to reach the ultimate victory over the jihadists without committing more forces into the battle.

It is a very difficult task, he noted, which requires certain political decisions and the involvement of the Muslim countries of the region.

"In other worlds, while the jihadists continue unofficially and covertly being strengthened with the help of Turkey and the oil monarchies, it will be very hard for Russia or any other world power to reach the ultimate victory over them," he finally stated.