A leading Russian opposition politician and critic of Vladimir Putin has a message for the incoming Trump administration: don’t trade Ukraine for a deal in Syria. Ilya Yashin warns that any detente with Russia that includes permitting its 2014 annexation of Crimea and invasion of eastern Ukraine to stand — even in return for withdrawing its military support for Syrian dictator Bashar Assad — would be a blow to the Russian democracy movement and only embolden the Kremlin, including possibly to threaten a NATO country.“Putin could yield to the U.S. his positions in Syria in exchange for [recognition] by …read more
Source: POLITICO – U.S. Edition