Session discussion club “Valdai” second consecutive passes in Sochi. This year, Putin met with Russian and international experts at the “Polyana in 1389,” in the mountain cluster, an hour’s drive from the airport.
Good and bad cop
In the first half of Thursday before the experts first, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, and then head of the presidential administration Sergei Ivanov. Sensational they did not say, but the conversation was useful, told RBC-five participants. The questions mainly referred to Syria, but also on Ukraine not forget, there were questions about the internal politics of Russia, they said.
Most of the experts were interested in the details of a meeting between President Putin and President Bashar al-Assad, which was held on the eve of Wednesday . Ivanov and Lavrov did not disclose details, but once again spoke about the reasons that prompted Russia to start operation. According to another interlocutor RBC, they told me that before the entry of Russia in the war Damascus was “on the verge of falling.” On the timing of the operation, the future of Assad and the parameters of a political settlement is nothing new was said, the expert said.
As for Ukraine, the experts were interested in the question of whether there is an alternative to the Minsk agreements, said one of the participants in the meeting. Ivanov answered that Minsk agreements should be carried out, they told to answer the interlocutors RBC.
It seems that Lavrov and Ivanov took the roles of good and bad cop, to prepare the public for a meeting with the President, shared his impressions of the participants ” The meetings have been very useful. They do not tell secrets, but their understanding of the situation was very useful “, – he told reporters Toby Gati, a senior adviser on international affairs Akin Gump, a former director of Russian National Security Council. Both officials were “very smart”, and “if people solve problems, then the catastrophe will not,” said Gatti.
By the Putin question the experts alone. “What next?” – Says Gatti. “What he did [in Syria] – this is very serious, and yet there are so many other conflicts,” – she said.
The company Putin on stage at this year amounted to former Czech President Vaclav Klaus former US ambassador to Russia Jack Matlock, chairman of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Larijani, chairman of the Development Fund and support the club “Valdai” Andrei Bystritsky. Robert Levold moderated conversation, professor emeritus at Columbia University. Last year, the moderator was a correspondent of Financial Times, Richard Milne and on the stage as opponents, former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and former Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel.
To the place of the final plenary session, Putin came to a new model of AvtoVAZ Lada Vesta bright -Green colour. The forum discussed the actions of Russia in Syria, the conflict with the United States on Ukraine four to give speeches (Putin Larijani, Klaus, Matlock) spoke only Matlock.
war everywhere
The theme of the current session of “Valdai” formulated by the organizers as “War and Peace: the man, the state and the threat of major conflict of the XXI century.” With reflections on the subject, and began his speech by Vladimir Putin. Noting that “peace and a peaceful life remain the ideal of humanity”, he pointed out that it is often “out of the accumulated contradictions were looking through the war».
Now, according to Putin’s military rhetoric dominates everywhere, including the economy, and in the information space. Competition between countries is natural admits Putin, but it must be based on the legal and moral norms. The long period of the bipolar world, a system of nuclear deterrence, which has made a global conflict meaningless, but the collapse of the system provoked a rise in the number of local conflicts, especially in border areas, the destruction of non-proliferation regime, the arms race, listed Putin.
Previous Putin’s speech on the “Valdai” memorable fierce criticism of the United States. On Thursday, Putin early in the speech accused Washington of breaking the fundamental base of security – the US withdrawal from the ABM Treaty (2002) and the deployment of its global missile defense system. Putin repeated his repeatedly sounded the idea that now is the threat from Iran, which the United States called the cause of the deployment of the system disappeared, and the United States from its plans are not abandoned.
Subsequently, the President of Russia ensued a discussion with Matlock. Former Ambassador to the continuing deployment of missile defense explained the need to create jobs in the United States. Putin called this explanation unsatisfactory. He criticized the Russian president and the leading economic war, partly also provoked by the actions of the United States, creating a “non-transparent economic unions” without first referring to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
plan on Syria
In the second part of his speech, Putin has formulated a plan for Syria. Note that in the case of the capture of Damascus LIH would have created a base for further expansion, Putin again called to distinguish terrorists: “I do not need to play speech and divide terrorists into moderate and immoderate».
In order to combat terrorism it is necessary, according to Putin, first free territory of Syria and Iraq, and for this purpose – to unite the efforts of the government forces of Syria, Iraq, the Kurdish militia and opposition forces, and the forces in the region and beyond.
The military victory will not solve all the problems, but will create conditions for a political process, which should involve all “healthy patriotic forces,” Putin continued. Also, according to the Russian President, now it is necessary not to destroy public institutions in Syria, and to strengthen them.
After that, according to Putin, we should start to recover and the country. Syria, Putin said, can become a platform of cooperation between Russia and the United States and Europe. “The main thing – to perceive each other as allies in a common struggle”, – Putin said.
The provision of military resistance to terrorists Russia is considering the possibility of cooperation with the armed opposition in Syria, Putin said. The issue he discussed at the talks with President Bashar al-Assad in Moscow, and he was “not against».
In response to another question about the content of the talks, Putin said that confidence in the success of the Russian action in Syria is not, but already there is a result. Speaking about the country’s future, Putin said that the partition of Syria – “the worst and not an option” and leads to the acquisition of the permanent nature of the conflict. Talking about whether to leave the head of state, correctly, Putin said. However, Assad is ready for a political process in which “we must be confident in the procedures,” said the president.
What have heard experts
The conversation with Putin lasted less than all the previous discussions with the president on the “Valdai” said RBC experts interviewed, it was less a question.
At this time, Putin was a little harder about Ukraine and about Syria, remarked Reinhard Krumm of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. “It seems that Syria – it is a huge problem for Russia is fairly easy to start such an event, but to go” – he argues. Early to talk about is, are other countries to support Putin’s offer a plan in the first paragraph (military victory), it can be very hard, the Americans also promised a few months to finish in Iraq, recalling Krumm.
Putin revealed willingness to cooperate with the international community, says German expert Alexander Rahr.
The proposed plan is quite balanced, said Anatol Lieven, a professor of Kings College. Of course, LIH need to win, but most likely it will be a long-term process, we are talking not only about Syria, and Iraq, reflects Lieven. Even if LIH will be pushed, from the Syrian authorities have the opportunity to establish control over the whole territory, – if not, is it possible to move on to the Father told the president in the political process, the expert said.
«First of all it is very clearly and with clear logic showed the double standards the US, the second – it showed that Russia in Syria to such groups as the LIH not distribute the power to the entire region, and it is not there just to try, and to do business, and for me, as a man from the Middle East is very important, “- said his impressions of RBC Egyptian expert Tareq Heggie.
No comments:
Post a Comment