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Showing posts from October 21, 2015

Headlines - 10:27 PM: Assad Finds Chilly Embrace in Moscow Trip - The New York Times | Syria crisis: Russia step ups diplomacy after Assad trip - BBC News | Moscow says Russia, US, Turkish, Saudi foreign ministers to meet Friday about Syria. - The Washington Post | Biden rules out White House run - BBC News

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"The Russian president is due to speak to an audience of foreign politicians and Russia watchers in Sochi on Thursday. Since addressing the UN general assembly last month in a call for the world to come together to fight terrorism, he has been keen to emphasise that Russia must be part of the solution in Syria. “ Putin wants to be seen talking to Assad ,” said Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, on the sidelines of the Sochi conference. “He is the only channel through which we’re likely to get Assad on board to any kind of transition and this impression will be reinforced by this meeting,” he said."  " In other respects , Russia’s motives in Afghanistan echo those of its Syrian intervention more closely. Alarm over the spreading terrorist menace aside,  Russia  has a strategic interest in tackling instability along its southern flank and shoring up friendly regimes. As in Syria and parts of Iraq, Putin sees a developing power vacuum caused