Clever propaganda directly from the Kremlin has largely affected the world’s perception of the country. The Kremlin wants the world to think of Russia as part of the solution to many of the world’s problems when the opposite is true. The Russian people have done poorly in a declining economy while Putin and his cronies become richer and richer each year.

Whether it is in Georgia, Ukraine or Syria, Putin will do anything to make it seem that Russia is a global power on equal footing with the United States. As long as the West lets him get away with it, Putin will keep on lying. It is time for the world to wake up.
http://europe.newsweek.com/putin-lying-about-withdrawing-forces-syria-453471