The Russian government sees its involvement in Syria — a robust military intervention that turned the civil war's tide in favor of its client, Syrian President Bashar Assad — as a success. From that perspective, Putin managed to get the United States to deal with him on the Syria crisis even amid Western efforts to punish Moscow for its aggression in Ukraine, which included the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

Source: Los Angeles Times March 19, 2018 23:15 UTC