Irina Zvyagelskaya, a professor at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) and a senior scientific researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, says that while the Russian operation strengthened Assad's position, it also spurred the international community to engage in negotiations. "Russia's involvement helped change the balance of power and, thanks to this, the road to negotiations was opened. The negotiations are difficult, but only after Russia's involvement, they became possible," Zvyagelskaya said.
Zvyagelskaya added that Russia's involvement in the Syrian conflict showed that Russia and the U.S., despite their complex relationship, can cooperate when necessary. UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which was developed with the active participation of diplomats from both countries, is an example of this. In Zvagelskaya's opinion, Russia's intervention prevented a violent overthrow of the Syrian regime, which could have resulted in total chaos in the country, as happened in Libya.
Leonid Isaev, an scholar of the Middle East and a senior professor in the Department of Political Sciences at the Higher School of Economics agrees with Zvyagelskaya's assessment, and added one more result of the Russian operation in Syria. "Today there is no longer any talk of an ISIS blitzkrieg in Syria or in Iraq. Most likely, ISIS is just trying to defend the territories it occupied earlier.