TUNIS, October 5. /TASS/. The director of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies spoke on Tuesday at the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies, focusing on topical regional and international issues and stating Russia’s return to the Arab world.
"Russia has returned to the Arab world, precisely returned, and we are ready for cooperation," Leonid Reshetnikov said.
"We believe that as of the present day, most promising directions for Russia in the development of foreign policy are Asia, the Middle East, Maghreb, Africa and Latin America," the expert said.
Focusing on the Syrian conflict, he said "Russia and the US have different aims in Syria. We want to see that peace returns to the country, while the US seeks an overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime".
Commenting on developments in Libya, the director said "in connection with efficient joint actions of the Russian Aerospace Force and the Syrian army, a big number of terrorists, who understand they will hardly win in Syria, are moving to Libya, where the situation is already difficult and such developments can sharply worsen it".
In his speech, Reshetnikov focused on main directions of Russia’s policy in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as on the global arena, on conflicts in Syria, Libya and in Ukraine, as well as on positions of the United States and the European Union on these issues.