SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Vladimir Putin has delayed a planned trip to Turkey following the forced landing of a Syrian plane in Ankara. In an interview, Vladimir Yukanin, a confidant to the Russian president, defends Russian weapons deliveries to dictator Bashar Assad and accuses the West of provoking a confrontation.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: You're the initiator of World Public Forum "Dialogue of Civilizations." What is the current state of relations between Russia and the West?
Vladimir Yakunin: We're on a dead-end road. At the same time, we face many common problems. The world order as we once knew it is breaking into pieces. During the Cold War, we at times found ourselves on the brink of nuclear war. The balance of terror ensured a kind of stability -- we were able to avoid a major war. But today's world is no less dangerous, as the conflict along the Syrian-Turkish border shows.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: What needs to be done?
Yakunin: A war must be avoided at all costs. Russia is against any type of use of external force. We say that particularly in regards to Syria. We also said that in the run-up to the Iraq invasion in 2003 -- at the time together with Germany and France. Today we know that talk of weapons of mass destruction was only used as a pretext, an American lie told at the highest level of state and presented before the United Nations.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Isn't Russia's support for Syria based on the fact that the country is a traditional partner of the Kremlin?
Yakunin: It is based on the fact that Russia has good knowledge of the Middle East. We think that Assad is still supported by a majority of the population. And we know that Assad's opponents are being armed from abroad.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: An airplane that was en route from Moscow to Damascus believed to be carrying military equipment was just forced to land in Turkey. And Assad is fighting his opponents with helicopters and heavy artillery he has obtained from Russia. Is that not true?
Yakunin: You shouldn't equate the two. Russia has delivered weapons -- and this happened on the basis of long existing contracts -- to the legitimate, internationally recognized government of Syria. But what the West wants is regime change, the toppling of this government. I have no concrete knowledge about the aircraft incident in Turkey.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Are you not concerned about the human rights violations committed by the Assad regime?
Yakunin: The democratization of the Middle East, as propagated by the West, leads to an increase in the influence of Islamists, who had previously been confined to the margins of society. » | Interview conducted by Matthias Schepp in Moscow | Friday, October 11, 2912
