Hopes for a cease-fire in the seven-year-old dictator's war against their own people are suffocating in Syria from poisonous gas, writes Handelsblatt journalist Matthias Bruggmann. Despite the UN Security Council resolution on the temporary cessation of hostilities, on Monday, the Asadov bombings of East Huti continued. And, according to human rights activists, Asad again used poison gas.

"Meanwhile, a single person determines the future fate of Syria: Vladimir Putin," the journalist believes.. - If Russia does not want to - as during the "meat grinder" in Aleppo - there will not be a break in the fighting, and Assad will be able to win the country step by step. Regardless of the resolutions adopted by the UN ".

"Almost a month before Putin's re-election to the fourth presidential term, the Kremlin's ruler can be congratulated: if 10 years ago his country was not taken seriously in the Middle East, today Putin is the main person making decisions in the region - thanks to the political war on several fronts" , - the author is sure. In addition to military involvement in the Syrian conflict, which, among other things, contributes to strengthening Russian influence in the resource-rich regions of the Middle East, Putin also uses political and military cooperation with Iran. Moreover, Putin managed to create an insidious union and with sworn enemies of Iran: the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf. The OPEC oil cartel is even going to create a major alliance with Russia and other important countries that are not part of the cartel. "Moscow and Riyadh go hand in hand - a few years ago this was unthinkable," - notes Bruggmann.

"It's as unthinkable as the fact that Russia will supply S-400 missile systems for billions, MiG fighters and other weapons to Algeria, Egypt, Turkey and even Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. ) Moscow's arms sales deals are not just important cash infusions into the impoverishing Russian industry - it's also a tactical weapon of Moscow's foreign policy, "the journalist said..

In relations with Russia, Europe urgently needs a strategy that, as far as possible, will focus on cooperation on the basis of common interests, but, nevertheless, draw red lines, including in the Middle East, the author states..