Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a rare foreign trip to the Middle East just days after US President Joe Biden visited the region in an attempt to show that Moscow’s global standing has not been affected by the attack on Ukraine. According to what was reported by the American Wall Street Journal.
In his second trip outside of Russia since the country invaded Ukraine in February, Putin is scheduled to travel to Tehran on Tuesday, where he will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
The newspaper says the meeting shows the importance Putin has gained in maintaining Russian influence from years of military and diplomatic intervention in the Middle East.
The visit of the Russian president comes just a few days after his American counterpart’s visit to the Middle East, where he tried to bring Israel and the Arab countries to face Russia, China and Iran, whose influence is increasing while the United States increases its presence in the region. Reduces, increases, collects.
“In light of the invasion of Ukraine, isolation from the West and sanctions, maintaining, if not expanding, influence has become even more important for Russian foreign policy,” said Hannah Knott, a researcher at the Vienna Center for Disarmament.
Russia knows that there is no future with the West. It has irretrievably disappeared.
The newspaper said the Russian president is seeking to strengthen Moscow’s ties with Iran, America’s “second enemy,” which is under pressure from Western sanctions and has recently become Moscow’s major military and trade partner.
According to US intelligence, Russian officials visited Iran in June and July to observe the country’s attack drones and believe that Iran is going to make an offer to Russia for the war in Ukraine.
The meeting between the President of Russia and the President of Turkey is scheduled to take place at a time when Turkey managed to play a decisive role in influencing the war.
Turkey, a NATO member, condemned the Russian invasion and sold armed drones to Ukraine, but has not imposed sanctions on the Kremlin.
Despite his sometimes strained relationship with Putin, Erdogan is playing a role in a potential plan to create the embattled grain corridor in Ukraine, as well as eventual peace talks.
This trip was made a few months after the meeting of the presidents of Russia and Iran in Moscow last January and in Turkmenistan last month.
The newspaper quoted Mark Cutts, a professor of government and politics at George Mason University, as saying that Putin is “putting a lot of effort into this relationship.”
In May, Iran’s Oil Minister Javad Oji said Tehran had finalized an agreement to supply 5 million tons of wheat and grains after meeting with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.
Novak confirmed that Russia had discussed trade deals with Iran, but did not say whether any had been signed.
Iranian businessmen say the Russians are now flocking to Iran to discuss ways around sanctions.
Deals on the table include selling Iranian clothing to Russian buyers to replace Western brands and auto parts to Russian automakers.
There have also been discussions about creating an export corridor from Russia to India through Iran.
During his visit to Tehran in May, Novak said that the trade between the two countries increased by 80% compared to the same period last year and reached 4 billion dollars in 2021. He expected it to rise to nearly $40 billion in the future.
This newspaper quoted Dimitri Trenin, a pro-Kremlin Russian foreign policy analyst, who said: “The trend of President Putin’s trips abroad now shows the real need and opportunity for Russian diplomacy.”
The three leaders are scheduled to discuss Syria, where Russia and Iran support Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Turkey supports opposition rebel groups.
Russia intervened militarily in the Syrian civil war in 2015, using air power to change the course of the conflict and help preserve the Assad regime.
In Tehran, Putin will reassure his Turkish and Iranian counterparts that Moscow remains a major player in Syria despite the campaign in Ukraine, Fyodor Lukyanov, head of the Kremlin’s foreign and defense policy advisory board, told the Wall Street Journal.
Despite devoting more than 100,000 troops to the attack on Ukraine, Russia has managed to maintain a military footprint in Syria and Libya, two countries where Moscow has used relatively low-cost armed interventions to develop significant influence in the region.
In recent weeks, Russia has stepped up some of its military operations in Syria, conducting airstrikes near US bases and harassing US forces, according to US officials.
Last week, Russia vetoed the UN Security Council’s decision to scale back a UN mission to send food aid to millions of Syrians, putting pressure on Western-backed relief operations in rebel-held areas of Syria.
Source: Lebanon Debate
