(EDM) It is the dubious ceasefire in Syria that keeps Russia in the focus of global media attention these days, as if the outcome of this catastrophic civil war actually depends upon Russian bombs falling here or there. President Vladimir Putin has not committed to anything binding because he has always claimed that only the Islamic State and other terrorist groupings are being targeted by Russian airstrikes (Rbc.ru, February 26). He appears not to care about the humanitarian costs of the war but is keen to engage in a direct dialogue with the United States on managing it—and he is even more keen to demonstrate the faults of US President Barack Obama’s Syrian policy. Putin almost certainly knows that the Syrian intervention is losing popularity among Russians, and he has reason to worry about the growth of discontent. Speaking to the Federal Security Service (FSB) Collegium last Friday (February 26), he started with the Syrian ceasefire but quickly turned to the more important problems of countering the subversive activities of foreign special services (Kommersant, February 26). […]
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