Al Jazeera: Russia’s Endgame in Syria

Analysts can only conjecture what is in store for Syria, Ukraine and other parts of the world where Russia and the United States have an interest. The US and Russian presidents held a private summit and only the translators know what was really said. Syria was discussed. Both countries battled the Islamic State extremists, with Russia and Iran backing the Bashar al Assad regime and the United States once supporting Assad’s removal. The United States increasingly targets Iran, opposing its influence in Syria. “A possible trade between the two great powers seems therefore possible, wherein the US and its regional allies (Israel and the Arab Gulf States) would cease attempting to undermine the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (and thereby accepting Russia's domination in Syria) in exchange for forcing Iran out,” suggests Marwan Kabalan for Al Jazeera. Russia could want some deal on Ukraine and removal of western sanctions in return. Russia’s Vladimir Putin, keen to show the United States as unreliable to its many allies, could decide Syria’s future. – YaleGlobal