ST. PETERSBURG, April 7. /TASS/. It will be impossible to belittle or hush up the role and importance of Russia’s successes in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
"However strongly some might wish to belittle the world importance of our actions to fight terror, it will be just impossible to play down these events. Yet there is such a wish. Those people are doing their job. Your job is to make something open to public scrutiny. There the task is to belittle, hush up, misinform viewers, listeners and readers," Putin told the All-Russia Popular Front’s media forum on Thursday.
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The Russian armed forces, not just the aerospace group, have certainly coped with the task that was set to them in Syria, Putin said.
"The recent events in Syria have directly shown Russia’s ability to settle problems not only near our borders, but also far away from them," he said.
"It is still early to say that a radical turn occurred there. But it is evident that we accomplished our task. What was our task? Our task was first of all to strengthen Syria's statehood and legitimate authorities," Putin told a media forum of the All-Russia People's Front.
"The statehood has gained strength, just as the bodies of power and the armed forces of the Syrian Republic. It is noteworthy that after the pullout of a considerable part of our group the Syrian army goes ahead with active offensive operations and recaptures ever more communities with our support," Putin said.
He pointed out that nobody was able to deny the struggle was exclusively against terrorist organizations, such as the Islamic State.
"This is recognized by our US partners, by the Europeans and by us. By everybody without an exception," Putin said.
The underlying reason for the news blackout over Russia’s successes is very clear, Putin believes.
"First, a great deal was said about the need for isolating Russia after certain events, for instance in Crimea. Then it became clear that this is impossible, and with the beginning of our operation in Syria the awareness of such destructive actions towards our country grew absolutely obvious," Putin said.
Russia’s pro-active attitude to the struggle against terrorism, he said, proved very helpful in building relations with the leading world powers in this field.
"We have created a center for information exchanges with the United States. There’ve been continued consultations and effective truce control mechanisms have been established," Putin said.
He pointed out it was essential to establish effective work for the sake of a political settlement in Syria. Consultations along these lines are already underway.