ROME, February 5. /TASS/. It is essential to understand Russia’s strategic interests as they cannot but be reckoned with in world politics, Lucio Caracciolo, the founder and director of Italy’s monthly geopolitical magazine Limes, told TASS on Friday.
The latest issue of the magazine was dedicated to Russia.
"We wrote much about Russia before but now it is a most wide overview of all political, economic and geopolitical aspects at this difficult moment when Russia has found itself in the spotlight over the developments in Ukraine and the conflict in Syria," Caracciolo said. "We are trying to analyze Russia’s interests to see how close or how far they are from the interests of other countries and Italy in particular."
"Russia’s leaders have been persistently defending its positions and the fact that now Russia has a major say is what should be reckoned with," he said.
Russia’s latest steps, such as the air operation in Syria and rapprochement with China, in his words, are a kind of response to United State President Barack Obama’s calling it a regional power. "We see perfectly well that Russia’s interests are stretching far beyond the ‘region,’ and they are to be reckoned with," he said.
On February 4, the magazine posted on its website a letter from Ukraine’s ambassador to Italy, Yevgeny Perelygin, who claimed the editorial board had mistakenly published a map featuring Crimea as a Russian territory. The editorial board however said the map reflected the real state of things. "It would be a mistake for a geopolitical magazine to ignore facts," Limes’ director wrote.