MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. Russia’s diplomatic and military victories play a key role in settling the Syrian crisis, science director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of Russia’s Academy of Science Vitaly Naumkin, who is one of the special advisors to the UN Special Envoy to Syria head Staffan de Mistura, said in an interview with TASS.

Summing up the events of the outgoing year, he noted that "much efforts went in vain" as far as settling the Syrian conflict goes. "But even though it went in vain, nevertheless, it served as a brick used to build a pyramid that will have "peace process" written all over it," the Russian expert stressed.

"Our diplomatic and military victories have played a key role, which I believe to be the important matters that became clear this year."

"Settling the Syrian crisis is one of Russia’s top priorities as President Vladimir Putin has been monitoring the process himself," the expert pointed out. "This fact disproves all the West’s allegations saying that Russia is not interested in solving the Syrian conflict. Quite the contrary."

"We have demonstrated that not only are we interested in it but we are also capable of advancing the process of settling the conflict even without cooperating with the US," Naumkin stressed. "At present, as far as the UN is concerned, peace process is frozen since the UN has been affected by Washington’s stance. Despite all this, Moscow has proven its capability to solve the issue with the regional players. This is what became clear during the outgoing year."

"All the complex issues, be it the liberation of Raqqa, the situation in northern and southern Syria as well as the Turkish zones that Ankara has, in fact, set up in Syria, and the Idlib issue, all this should be solved through negotiations against the background of military successes," Naumkin said. "Russia believes that there can be no military solution to the Syrian crisis, this position has once again proved to be correct."