Independent: "The war in Syria could have been avoided if the West had listened to Moscow"

The British publication The Independent wrote that the West had to listen to Russia to avoid the Syrian conflict. According to the former Special Envoy of the UN and the Arab League to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, the bloody conflict in Syria could have been resolved four years ago if the Western powers had listened to Russia. Even in 2012 the Russian government proposed effective measures to eliminate the tensions in Syria, but the US and the West ignored Moscow’s offer.

According to many analysts, the Western powers and many Muslim countries that are in some way involved in the conflict must understand that the most important thing is the interests of the Syrian people, which are a top priority in solving the country's problems. In fact, all the external players support or maintain completely different parties, and many Western countries, rather than search for a peaceful solution to the problem, preferred inaction.

If the United Kingdom, France and the United States in 2012 had taken into account the recommendations of Russia, it is likely that it would have been possible to avoid the military conflict in Syria. However, Washington and its allies were so confident in the foreign policy pursued by them in the Middle East that they missed the opportunity for a peaceful settlement. As a result, tens of thousands of people were killed in the war and millions of Syrians have been forced to flee their homes.

Over the years it became obvious that the foreign policy of the Russian leadership is much more realistic and effective than the US’s and Europe’s. Chances of settling the Syrian crisis still remain if the parties are able to finally coordinate their efforts to achieve common goals. However, it is important to remember that the preservation of the state and the issue of security of the people of Syria are the main priorities for today.

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The international analytical publication Middle East Online writes about what awaits the world energy market in the near future. OPEC said on Monday that oil production fell in February, despite the fact that Iran has been steadily increasing its oil exports after the international sanctions were lifted in January as a result of the successful completion of the deal on the Iranian Nuclear Program.

The decline can be attributed in partially to a sharp drop in oil production in Iraq, which has suffered from the global decline in oil prices and competitive energy supplies from the autonomous Kurdistan region. However, despite the fact that oil production has decreased in Iraq, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates, Iran’s, Saudi Arabia’s and Kuwait’s production levels have increased, and as a result the volume of oil produced by the cartel continues to exceed demand.

World oil prices, in turn, fell sharply on Monday after Tehran announced that they will join the proposed freezing of the volumes of oil production only when their exports amount to 4 million barrels per day. Despite the loss, the oil market has restored its position in recent weeks, which gives the International Energy Agency an opportunity to talk about progressive implementation of the rescue plan to get out of the crisis. However, despite this, many of the major oil companies continue to cut investments, postponing major projects until the oil market prices are growing in a stable way.