BEIRUT, June 20 (Itar-Tass) - Annual summit conference of the G8 in Lough Erne showed a growth of Russia’s role as a stabilizing force in the international arena, Dr Imad Rizk, the director of Lebanon-based Center for Strategic Studies told Itar-Tass Thursday.
Quite naturally, the Syrian crisis was one of the acutest problems on the agenda of the summit and the communiqu· of the G8 shows graphically that President Vladimir Putin managed to convince participants in the summit of the importance of continued efforts to attain political settlement, Dr Rizk said.
He believes that Moscow managed to reverse the situation and thus prevented a slide into a global confrontation over Syria.
Russia can pride itself for turning the Syrian problem into a subject of negotiations aimed at tapping a peaceful solution to the crisis and for getting the European countries engaged in the agreements on Syria alongside the U.S.
According to Dr Rizk, Putin managed to mitigate the clash of interests on that dossier and to focus everyone’s attention on the existence of opportunities for a peaceful solution in spite of contradictions along with neutralizing terrorism as the main common threat.
“Putin threw Russia’s weight and influence behind the consolidation of key international players around the establishing of peace processes with regard to all the ‘pressing dossiers’,” Dr Rizk said.
He emphasized the fact of reliance on support of Brazil, India, China, and South Africa, which Russia’s policy draws on. It becomes a factor of power pushing the world towards greater stability and joint steps towards resolution of critical situations and establishment of West-East collaboration, Dr Rizk said.