Madam Chair, I just want to thank the hon. member for his thoughtful speech. I want to put to him the issue of Russia, which seems to be the major stumbling block to arriving at any kind of a solution with respect to President Assad or anything else with respect to Syria.
I would be interested in the member's thoughts with respect to why he thinks Russia seems to be so intransigent with respect to its attitude towards Syria. Does the member think Russia will actually diminish its influence in the Middle East with respect to its position on Syria?