Russia's military operations in Syria pursue one thing - not to let Assad's regime fall, Sergei Markedonov, a famous Russian analyst, told ArmInfo.
"I do not think that Russia needs a second Afghanistan. Moscow just tries to stay involved in the Syrian process and use that factor to bargain with the West. It is especially relevant considering the current rapprochement of the positions of Russia and West on Syria," he said. Expressing confidence that Moscow cannot bring Syria back to the situation it was in before 2011, Markedonov said that Russia does not need drastic deterioration of the situation in Syria and Assad's defeat and strives at least to maintain the status quo.
Commenting on the speculations that Russia seeks a "corridor" to Syria via the territory of Azerbaijan, Markedonov said Moscow hardly needs it now. "To implement such a scenario, the Kremlin needs at least to coordinate its steps with Ilham Aliyev. It is not a fact that Aliyev is ready for such high risk now," the analyst said.