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Fyodor Lukyanov is editor in chief of the journal Russia in Global Affairs.

Resume: It has been a long time since I was as acutely aware of Russia's importance as during the recent conference on the Syrian crisis in Ankara.

It has been a long time since I was as acutely aware of Russia’s importance as during the recent conference on the Syrian crisis in Ankara. The conference participants, mostly delegates from Turkey, the Syrian opposition and several regional countries, said that everything depends on Russia, which alone can tip the scales. They said that if not for Russia’s veto in the UN Security Council and military assistance to Bashar Assad, the country would have a new regime and would be democratizing by now. They said it again and again,...