West considers Russia’s stance on Syria more – says Ushakov

International partners have considered Russia’s stance on the settlement in Syria more after the visit of French President Francois Hollande to Russia, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said.

“It seems to me that after the visit of the French President, international efforts to find a compromise [regarding Syria] intensified, in particular with more consideration of the Russian views and Russian positions, as we see it,” Ushakov told reporters at a briefing in Moscow on the eve of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visits to Germany and the Netherlands.

Ushakov said that the situation in Syria was changing daily and new moments were emerging. “Taking into account all this, opinions will be exchanged in Hanover and, obviously, in Amsterdam,” the presidential aide said.

The Russian and French presidents “have agreed on certain diplomatic maneuvers, which since have been implemented via diplomatic channels,” Ushakov said on the talks of Putin and Hollande, which were held during Hollande’s visit to Moscow in late February.

Putin said at a news conference on the results of the talks with Hollande on February 28 that the French president had brought up a number of new proposals on the settlement of the Syrian situation,according to Voice of Russia, Interfax

“Mr. President, we have formed some new proposals during the discussion, which I suppose, could be discussed with all partners and could be attempted to be implemented,” Putin said.

“We had a very vivid discussion and even argued about some things. I think that Mr. President agreed with our opinion in some aspects. I think that we also have to consider the opinion of our partners on certain aspects of this complicated issue,” Putin said.

 M.D