MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia has played a crucial role in the fight against Islamic State (ISIL) radicals in Syria, preventing the protraction of the Syrian conflict, Milorad Dodik, the president of Republika Srpska, one of the two administrative entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, told Sputnik Serbia.
"If Russia did not seriously take up [the task of] destroying ISIL, it [conflict in Syria] would have obviously lasted for decades and nothing would have changed," Dodik said, pointing out that at the G-20 summit, Russia’s main critics, such as British Prime Minister David Cameron, admitted that "without [Russian President Vladimir Putin] nothing will work out in Syria."
At the same time, the Serb politician noted that the world response and solidarity was not as strong after the October 31 crash of the Russian A321 plane over Egypt as it was after the November 13 series of terrorist attacks in Paris.
The plane crash, which was the result of terrorist activity according to Russian investigators, took the lives of 224 people, while the Paris attacks killed 129, injuring over 350.
The Islamic State (ISIL) jihadist group, operating in Syria and Iraq, claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.
Russia has been conducting airstrikes against ISIL targets and other terrorist groups in Syria at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad since September 30.
Prior to the start of Russian involvement, a US-led international coalition was conducting airstrikes against ISIL positions in Syria starting from September, 2014, without any significant breakthroughs.
