YEREVAN. – Russia has carried out its tasks in Syria, Caucasus Institute Director, political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan, said at a press conference on Thursday.

In his words, however, Russia did not have direct interests in Syria itself.

“Russia had three tasks,” Iskandaryan noted. “First is the fight for the zone of influence; to show that Russia needs to be reckoned with (…). Russia fulfilled this task.”

In the analyst’s view, the second objective of Russia referred to Ukraine.

“We can’t say that Russia achieved its goal here, but its position became clearer for the West,” he stressed. “The third goal was to strengthen [Syrian President Bashar al-]Assad’s positions, so that the Americans recognize his right to exist. They [i.e. the Russian] achieved this goal, too.”

Alexander Iskandaryan added that even though the Russians withdrew from Syria, they did not abandon it.