Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) greets veterans next to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu after the Victory Day parade at Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2015. REUTERS/Grigory Dukor/File Photo
Reuters: Backed by Putin, Russian military pushes into foreign policy
In the past few months, at times wearing his desert military uniform, Shoigu has held talks with Syria’s president in Damascus, met Israel’s prime minister in Jerusalem and been received by the Emir of Qatar in Doha.
The defense ministry’s forays into areas long regarded as the preserve of the foreign ministry are raising eyebrows in Russia, where strict protocol means ministers usually hold talks only with their direct foreign counterparts.
The military is reaping political dividends from what the Kremlin saw as its big successes in Crimea, annexed from Ukraine after Russian soldiers in unmarked uniforms seized control of the peninsula in 2014, and Syria, where Russian forces helped turn the tide of war in President Bashar al-Assad’s favor.
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WNU Editor: I do not see this push by the Russian military into foreign policy. Because Syria is a war zone .... I am not surprised that Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu is there, nor am I surprised that in is visiting the neighboring countries. But as to making and implementing foreign policy .... no .... the Russian Defense Ministry is not there.
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