26 March 2012 By Tariq Alhomayed Russia's recent statements regarding the Syrian
crisis indicates that the Russian bear has actually
done a backflip, but is yet to stand on his feet, and
only then we will truly see the magnitude of Russia's
size and the impact of its reversal! Indeed, we have
recently witnessed a series of statements from Moscow
suggesting that Russia is now in a stage of
repositioning its stance towards the Syrian crisis.
We have seen heated Russian statements, including
those made by President Putin in which he said that
his country's stance on Syria was not in support of
al-Assad, and that the interests of his country with
the West, and of course the Arabs, were more important
than its interests with al-Assad. There was also the
Russian-Arab agreement – formulated in Cairo – on five
points in support of UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi
Annan's mission, in accordance with the Arab
resolutions, which stipulates a peaceful transfer of
power in Syria along the lines of Yemen. Furthermore,
there was the criticism lodged by the Russian Foreign
Minister [Sergei Lavrov] speaking in the Russian State
Duma (parliament) a few days ago, where he rebuked al-Assad
by saying: "Regrettably, he hasn't always followed our
advice in his activities". Lavrov claimed that
Russia's advice had not transformed into a practical
reality within an appropriate timeframe, rather the
opposite has happened. He warned that "inertia" may
"sweep and engulf all". This is not all of course, another important
Russian statement was the one issued by Mr. Lavrov the
day before yesterday during an interview with a
Russian television channel, where the Foreign Minister
said: "We believe the Syrian government should
quickly, without delay, support (Annan's) approaches".
He added "I repeat, we do not support the Syrian
government. We support the need to start a political
process. To do that it is first necessary to cease
fire". Lavrov went on to say: "The Russian side will
do all it can for that, regardless of the decisions
the Syrian government makes. With many of which, by
the way, we do not agree". These Russian statements
confirm what I wrote on Saturday about a Russian
official – of less stature than Lavrov – telling
Syrian ministers that the al-Assad regime must respond
to Annan's proposals, and that Moscow is not prepared
to look like it is protecting a "killer". Therefore, the Russian bear has actually done a 180
flip with regards to its position towards the Syrian
crisis, but it is not standing on its feet yet so we
cannot see the size of its influence. It is clear that
a complete Russian turn-around will depend on the al-Assad
regime's response to Annan's efforts, which the tyrant
of Damascus will not take very seriously as usual, but
rather he will negotiate along the famous way of Adel
Imam; "you give up and then I will give up". The al-Assad
regime will demand that the rebels lay down their
weapons first, while the West says that al-Assad must
stop the killings first, and Russia says that all
parties must stop the fighting, i.e. Moscow stands in
the middle. All this means that those concerned with
the region are communicating with Moscow more than
ever. If Russia allows US forces to use its territory,
how can it then go to the very end defending al-Assad?
This is incomprehensible, and so we say that the
Russian bear has done a flip, and all that remains is
for him to regain his footing, so we can all see its
complete reversal on the Syrian crisis. I think we are
close to that. Tariq Alhomayed is the Editor-in-Chief of Asharq
Al-Awsat, the youngest person to be appointed that
position. He holds a BA degree in Media studies from
King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, and has also
completed his Introductory courses towards a Master's
degree from George Washington University in Washington
D.C. He is based in London.
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