The need for a joint struggle against international terrorism, especially with terrorist groups in Syria, helps to restore pragmatic relations between Russia and the West, European politicians said in interviews with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza during the 12th session of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi.
Sir Tony Brenton, the British diplomat, the former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the UK to Russia, the former head of the UK Department of Foreign Relations of the United Nations, above all noted that Russia and the West have a lot of common interests. "We and Russia are interested in preventing Syria from being captured by Islamic fundamentalists. I think we should cooperate more in order to achieve this aim. I underline that Moscow is acting very decisively, boldly and fairly. The West didn’t expect that the Russian Federation would conduct a military operation in Syria, while Western forces acted very cautiously and slowly," the diplomat said.
Sir Tony Brenton said that neither Russia nor the West wants war. "Everyone understands that a real war between the West and Russia would be a disaster. Certainly, we have strained relations over Ukraine and Syria. However, despite these difficulties, we are still very far from this war. I believe that a real war won’t happen," he expressed confidence.
A well-known British historian, Dominic Lieven, agreed that the interests of Russia and the West in the fight against international terrorism are the same. "We need the same thing, because it is a threat to all, and not only Russia and the West, but also to India, China and others. I would say that today we have different tactics, rather than strategies. Of course, as the tactic is also a very important thing. It is easy to argue about it, but opposition to extremism is the main political problem that is in the common interests of the West and Russia,’ Lieven said.
The Scientific Director of the German-Russian Forum, Alexander Rahr, said that he believed in the establishment of a constructive collaboration in Syria between Russia and the West. "We must work together in order to defeat international terrorism, which threatens both Russia and the West,’’ Rahr said, adding that after some time the West can mitigate the anti-Russian sanctions, if the conflict in Ukraine is frozen.
"It is possible that the third stage of sanctions, which was adopted after the downing of the Malaysian Boeing, will be completely eliminated. I hear many opinions in Germany in favor of lifting these sanctions. Frankly speaking, there are many other states in Europe, which are willing to be against Russia under any circumstances. If not Ukraine, they will find, or even create other conflicts for their geopolitical interests’ sake,’’ Alexander Rahr said.
