At his
annual news conference on Dec. 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow “generally agreed with” the draft resolution prepared by the U.S. “I think Syrian officials, having studied the draft, will agree with it, too, although there may be something that somebody does not like. In an attempt to resolve a conflict that lasts many years, a bloody conflict, there is always room for compromise, but concessions should be made on both sides,” said Putin. For Russia, in addition to the political settlement as such, another aspect of the Syrian crisis is also important, that of uniting efforts in the fight against terrorism. Commenting on the adopted resolution, Lavrov said that the voting at the UN “should pave the way to forming a broad anti-terror front on the basis of the UN Charter and relying on all those who are fighting terror on the ground, including the Syrian army, Kurdish militias, and armed groups of the patriotic Syrian opposition.” He said the Russian military operation in Syria was a contribution to that fight.