Western leaders might not like President Vladimir Putin, but it seems that they are not going to be able to ignore him. The launch of Russian airstrikes in Syria this week alters the balance of forces in that country and puts Russia at the centre of the regional stage. The intervention follows a speech by Putin at the 70th UN General Assembly on 28 September in which his central theme was the need for “a genuinely broad international coalition against terrorism” in the Middle East and Syria in particular. This coalition, he argued, should include the Syrian government.
展开▼
