SOCHI, October 22. /TASS/. The policy of those who sought Russia’s isolation has failed, the chief of Russia’s presidential staff, Sergey Ivanov, said Thursday.
"It is, in my view," Ivanov told journalists when asked whether it is possible to speak of the failure of attempts to isolate Russia.
He said Russia is not pursuing the aims to take the lead or satisfy certain ambitions.
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"We are acting only proceeding from our own national interests. When we see a direct and immediate threat to these interests and we have the resource, we take a certain position," Ivanov said.
He explained that for example, in Syria, Russia is fighting "neither Sunnis, nor for [President Bashar] Assad - we are waging war on terrorism that directly threatens us."
Ivanov recalled numerous reports on detention of militants who had been to Syria.
"It’s time to do something with that," he concluded.
Russia’s Aerospace Forces started delivering pinpoint strikes at facilities of the Islamic State terrorist organization in Syria on September 30. The air group comprises over 50 aircraft and helicopters, including Sukhoi Su-24M, Su-25SM, Su-30SM and state-of-the-art Su-34 aircraft. Hundreds of terrorist facilities have been hit by Russian aircraft.
On October 7, four missile ships of the Russian Navy’s Caspian Flotilla fired 26 Kalibr cruise missiles (NATO codename Sizzler) at militants’ facilities in Syria. On October 8, the Syrian army passed to a large-scale offensive.
Russia’s Armed Forces act on a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad. The Russian Federation does not plan to take part in ground operations in Syria.
According to UN statistics, fighting between Syrian government troops and militants has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced millions since its start in 2011.
An international peace conference on Syria, dubbed Geneva-2, organized by Russia and the United States and designed to negotiate a solution to the Syrian crisis, held in January and February 2014, brought no particular progress.