Now we have the head of the Center for Strategic Communication, Dmitri Abzalov, online.
- Hello, Dmitri. We see there are attempts to mitigate the situation: Vladimir Putin said it was an unfortunate turn of events, Israel expressed its condolences and said it's ready to cooperate in the investigation. What do you think it will end up with?
Dmitri Abzalov, head of the Center for Strategic Communication: A lot will depend on what Israel will do. I'll remind you a delegation should come in the near future. There country's minister of defense will be there at least. They're going to clear things up about the Il-20 which was shot down. It should be noted now, in fact, Israel doesn't comment on the strikes in Syria, but it does deliver them all the time. It fights against Shia groups, against Hezbollah. Until recently, Russia has turned a blind eye to that because, in fact, Israel never attacked Russian facilities at all. Moreover, it has always warned about such impacts. So, from this point of view, at worst, Moscow can tighten the requirements for Israel. It was announced by the Russian President that there can be additional measures in order to protect Russian servicemen in Syria. Indeed, Israel isn't interested in impairing its relationship with Moscow.
I'll remind you that after the incident in Turkey and the delivery of anti-ballistic missile systems it all drastically complicated maneuvering for Turkey's aviation. Israel will try to moderate the situation. Quite likely, it will offer some kind of an enhanced cooperation including such operations. An important factor is the degree of Israel's cooperation with the Coalition. It wasn't Israel alone blowing the strikes. French naval forces took part in it as well. It's clear that Tel Aviv will try to somehow build up the relationship in the coming weeks. It's clear that the relationship has worsened quite a bit.
It's also clear that without reciprocal steps on Israel's part Moscow could take some serious measures, for instance, on reinforcing the air defense. If it concerns not only Russian military facilities but also other areas, which would become a serious problem for Israel. Because if we deploy not the S-200 air defense system, but the S-300 or S-400, it could become a real pain for the air forces of this country.
- Dmitri, in brief, can we cover the sky over Syria? Is it a possible scenario?
- It's unlikely to cover it completely. But it'll be a problem for Israel if Russian air defense is deployed in the southwest of Syria. It would be a great complication. I doubt Israel will drive the situation to such a conflict and in the nearest future…
- OK. Thank you, Dmitri. Thank you, Dmitri. That was Dmitri Abzalov, the head of the Center for Strategic Communication.
