The US troop withdrawal from the Kurdish-controlled region and Turkey's paused invasion created an opportunity for Russia to intervene and avert a wider conflict. US President Donald Trump's lifting of sanctions against Turkey only underlines how Moscow has marginalised Washington's role in Syrian-Turkish-Kurdish dynamics. Russian is gratified by this, but more by securing a measure of control of the north-east and hence advancing its vision of an overall political settlement. This has been achieved at little cost and without antagonising the major regional actors involved.
Russia's military advantage and interests in Syria mean there is no other obvious state where such intervention could be replicated easily.
Iraq offers parallels, but Russian interests there are mostly mercantile; avoiding offence to Iran would be a priority there.
Moscow's assiduous courting of Saudi Arabia has created another regional friend that will not obstruct its actions in Syria.
