Russia Beyond the Headlines- "The people who want to reach settlement in the Middle East without getting Russia and Iran engaged in it simply don't understand anything in international politics," he said.

Crisis settlement in the Middle East, and particularly in Syria, is impossible without Russia and Iran's engagement in the process, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Nov. 3 in cause of debates on the eve of primaries among the French Republicans.

"The people who want to reach settlement in the Middle East without getting Russia and Iran engaged in it simply don't understand anything in international politics," he said. "We need dialogue with Moscow and Teheran, as much as with Saudia Arabia because there'll be no result otherwise."
Simultaneously, he expressed regrets over what he believes to be too close a rapprochement between the incumbent French leadership and the Sunni regimes in the Middle East.


The first round of internal elections among the Republicans has been scheduled for Nov. 30. If the party members fail to elect the strongest possible candidate for participation in the presidential election in the first go, a second round will take place a week later, on Nov. 27.


All in all, seven danditates are taking part in the primaries. Sarkozy, former Prime Minister Alain Juppe who is currently mayor of Bordeaux and former Prime Minister Francois Fillon are the favorites among the seven candidates.


The French will elect the next President of the Fifth Republic in spring 2017.