Most important achievement of 2017: Big war with NATO canceled

Russian politicians and experts shared their opinion with Pravda.Ru about most important events of the outgoing year 2017.

Alexei Pushkov, member of the Federation Council Committee on Defence and Security:

"The biggest event of the year is the success of the Russian operation in Syria and the liquidation of ISIL* as a combat-ready formation and even more so, a state formation in Syria. This, in my opinion, is the most important thing.

"Another most important event of the year, or, to be more precise, an anti-event, is the facf of USA's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. This decision has set the Middle East on fire again, it became a gross violation of international law, because international resolutions of the UN and the UN Security Council, which the US supported, envisage a special status for Jerusalem.

"The decision to single-handedly recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital has come as a violation of all norms of international law. I think that this event is very indicative from the point of view of the role that Russia plays in the world and the role of the USA. Russia's role is stabilising and positive, whereas the role of the USA is destabilising and destructive."

Evgeny Satanovsky, President of the Institute of the Middle East:

"The biggest event of the year is the state of affairs in Syria. The Russian Federation has restored its military potential, and this means that a big war with NATO has been at least canceled."

Anatoly Wasserman, political consultant, publicist:

"I will remember the year 2017 for events that have not taken place. To be honest, I expected that the exhaustion of the current structure of the global division of labor was evident to everyone. Trump offers to dismantle this structure while it can still be done without catastrophic consequences. Nevertheless, this did not happen, and Trump himself was declared an incompetent figure, a Russian puppet, so this system will have to rot down to the bottom. In my opinion, Trump has not realised why so many people attack him from every direction, and he is still convinced that he is offering only good things. The trouble is that any good thing comes as an obstacle for those who profit from imperfections.

"I will also remember 2017 for the unbridled and absolutely groundless campaign of slander against Russia in everything - from doping in sports to interference in the US elections. And, unfortunately, I will remember this year for the inability of Russian politicians to respond to all those attacks. In fact, there are only two people, who do something about it - President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov. Everyone else, as it appears, just stand and watch and do nothing.

"Finally, 2017 will be remembered for the rise of the Russian economy, despite efforts of those, who believe in beneficial effects of unlimited personal freedom with no regard for society. Certainly, individual freedom is needed, but only within the limits that do not undermine the development of society. Without society, people will not be able to live, create - they will not be able to survive."

*IS is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia

Pravda.Ru

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