Russian President Vladimir Putin has, so far, held off a Syrian government assault on Idlib and prevented an escalation by Israel and Syria, and by extension Iran. But keeping the peace in Syria will ultimately require deeper US-Russian coordination to manage the US troop withdrawal and prevent another round of costly bloodshed.
“When Moscow decided to launch a military operation in Syria in 2015, several goals were established. More than three years later, virtually all of them have been achieved,” writes Fyodor Lukyanov. “Radical Islamists have been crushed. President Bashar al-Assad has retained and strengthened his power. Russia’s regional clout has grown dramatically alongside its military and political impact on the global stage.”
