Vladimir Putin's re-election as president will not affect Russia's stance on Syria, analysts say, as the country's foreign minister prepares to meet Arab League ministers in Cairo to discuss ways to resolve the crisis there.
Sergei Lavrov announced the trip during talks with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Moscow on Monday, a day after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin claimed a resounding victory at Russia’s presidential polls amid widespread allegations of fraud. Putin warned the West not to interfere in Syria in the run-up to Sunday's vote and accused the United States of "political engineering" in regions that are "traditionally important" to Russia.
Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on Syria last month and bowed out of an international conference aimed at applying more pressure on the Damascus government over its continued crackdown on anti-government protesters. Both countries have, however, backed calls for humanitarian aid to be allowed to the worst-hit areas.
"The meeting on March 10 will be a valuable opportunity to analyze the situation from all sides," Lavrov said.
He argued, however, that there was "no need" for new action on Syria, saying that Russia's draft resolution aimed at diffusing the crisis there and the Arab League peace plan for Syria "do not clash on principal issues."
Nourhan el-Sheikh, professor of political science at Cairo University, said Putin "had a vision concerning Syria," and that he wanted the world to "react correctly" to developments there.
"Putin was the one who established a new phase in the Arab-Russian relationship," she told RIA Novosti, saying she looked forward to Putin's "third era."
But Samir Altaqi, the director of the Dubai-based Orient Research Center, said "a lot of questions" remain about whether Putin will be able to "mend the role of Russia in the way that will establish a well-defined national interest for Russia while at the same time having more of a stake in the international community as we are entering a period of tumultuous crises across the region."
Rights groups say more than 7,000 people have been killed in almost a year of unrest, which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad blames on "armed terrorist gangs."
Altaqi added, however, that there would be no "qualitative change" in Russia's role in the Middle East, a view echoed by Yelena Suponina, the head of the Center of Asian and Middle Eastern Affairs at the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies, who said she saw "no grounds" for Russia's relations with Damascus to change significantly after Putin's return to the Kremlin despite "many unresolved issues."
Russia is the biggest supplier of arms to Syria and has a naval base there.
Yevgeny Satanovsky, the president of the Institute for Middle Eastern Studies in Moscow, said Russia's stance would not have altered no matter who won Sunday's elections.
"Russia's position is based on its political interests, not on somebody's private concerns and since these interests have not been altered of late, and no proposals have been made to this effect by our Arab or Western partners, Russia's position [on Syria] will remain the same," he told RIA Novosti.
