September 2015 will be remembered as the month when Russia was taken seriously again, Kenneth Rapoza believes.

According to Rapoza, the success of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Syria has reminded West that Moscow’s stance should be taken into account, whether Western leaders like it or not.

“The West will listen to Russia, or Russia will do what it wants and ignore them. Such is the case with Russia’s involvement in the Syria fiasco. Fear it. Hate it. Russia has to be taken seriously, like it or not.” Rapoza wrote in an article for Forbes.

Putin’s September 29 interview with CBS journalist Charlie Rose, his UN General Assembly speech on fighting terrorists in Syria, France and Germany obviously getting tired of the situation in Ukraine – these are all signs of Russia breaking out from a tight corner.

It shows that Putin is being heard out, and for investors, “this may be a time to start dipping into Russian stocks” Rapoza noted.

The “Normandy Four" meeting in Paris, in particular, made it clear that Germany and France are leaning more toward Russia by insisting on implementation of Minsk-2 agreements and carrying out elections in Donbass. It seems like Kiev will have to deal witty is change of events.

September 2015 has become a turning point in the world’s attitude toward Russia, to a large extend due to Putin’s successful foreign policy, and that may eventually lead to the end of anti-Russia sanctions regime, the columnist believes.