MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin on Thursday made his strongest pitch yet
for cooperation between Washington and Moscow in Syria and beyond, calling it a crucial moment in
East-West relations not unlike the end of the Cold War.
Speaking before a gathering of global experts on Russia, Mr. Putin also released a few details from his
surprise meeting here with the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, on Tuesday, saying Mr. Assad said Damascus was
willing to make common cause with the armed opponents as long as they were
willing to fight the Islamic State.
Mr. Putin shared the stage in the southern
resort town of Sochi with Ali Larijani, the speaker of the Parliament in Iran, which is allied with Russia in fighting in
Syria. Both men rejected proposals for Syria’s partition, calling those a
formula for endless warfare and dangerous gains by the militants.
The Russian leader seemed at times to be
doubling down on his charm offensive toward Washington and the West, a critical
part of his strategy of intervening in Syria in the first place, analysts have
said. By changing the subject from the Ukraine crisis and playing peacemaker in
Syria, many say, he aims to break out of the Western sanctions imposed over
Ukraine at a time when low oil prices have walloped the Russian economy.
The Russian president revealed that the
American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State was close to sharing
intelligence on the positions and movements of the militants. Russia and the
United States have already reached an agreement on sharing the airspace over
Syria, he noted.
“Syria, despite the dramatic situation there
now, might become a model for partnership for the sake of our joint interests,
for the resolution of our problems, which concern everyone, for working out an
effective system of risk management,” Mr. Putin said, seemingly laying out a
broader plan for global cooperation with the United States and the West in
general.
“We had this chance once after the end of the
Cold War; unfortunately, we didn’t use it,” Mr. Putin told the annual gathering
of academics and other Russia experts known as the Valdai Discussion Club.
Another chance was missed during the terrorist upsurge in the early 2000s, he
said.
He said he hoped the beginning of such
cooperation would emerge from talks scheduled in Vienna on Friday between the
foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia as well as the American
secretary of state, John Kerry. Iran should be included, he said.
Mr. Putin unleashed some of his standard
criticism of the United States, too, accusing it of seeking to dominate the
world alone. Some Americans in the audience pushed back. A former ambassador,
Jack F. Matlock Jr., suggested that Russia should stop blaming the West for
conspiring to cause the collapse of the Soviet Union, given its internal
weaknesses and the Kremlin’s own decisions at the time.
Yet even when compared with the comparatively
restrained tone of Mr. Putin’s address to the United Nations at the end of
September, some audience members said they could not remember him making such
an ardent appeal for a different relationship with Washington.
“Those are the most
hopeful words I have heard from Putin on U.S.-Russia relations in years,” said
Clifford Kupchan, the chairman of the Eurasia Group, a political risk
consultancy organization, who was in the audience. “I think he wants at least
peaceful coexistence with the U.S.” in hopes that the European Union will lift sanctions next year, he said.
Mr. Kupchan said he doubted that the White House
would be very receptive, as the Obama administration and the American public
both find the idea of cooperating with Mr. Putin distasteful. “He might have
five letters in his name but he is still a four-letter word in Washington,” Mr.
Kupchan said.
Mr. Putin said he believed it was time to
strengthen Syria, not further destabilize it.
Asked if Russia had a plan for Syria and was
confident that it could avoid creating the kind of chaos that has followed
other foreign interventions, Mr. Putin said there was no “insurance.” Calling
himself a big fan of cockpit videos, he said he believed the Russian Air Force
was effective and indicated that he had discussed various scenarios with Mr.
Assad.
“I will pull back the curtain a little on my
talks with President Assad,” Mr. Putin said, adding that he had proposed
providing Russian support to armed opposition groups in Syria that are willing
to fight the Islamic State.
“What would be your view if we were to support
their efforts in fighting the Islamic State in the same way we are supporting
the Syrian Army?” Mr. Putin said he asked, and Mr. Assad answered, “I would
view that positively.”
The Russian president said that Moscow is now
trying to organize the practical side of that. He criticized the United States
for providing antitank missiles to the rebels and said he hoped it would be
wise enough not to provide hand-held antiaircraft weapons, in that both were
likely to fall into the hands of militant organizations.
Mr. Putin reiterated that any political
transition in Syria would have to be carried out by the current government, but
that it should be a transparent process with international monitoring.
Mr. Larijani used the opportunity to make a dig
at Iran’s regional rival, Saudi Arabia, for demanding that Mr. Assad step down
in favor of a more democratic Syria. “Those who do not allow their women to
drive cars, they talk about democracy in Syria,” he said.
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