If back in
2017, doubts could arise, “what is the Middle East for Russia: success or is it
still a trap?” (1), then today, two years later, in November 2019, the answer
is more than obvious.
Moreover,
it is not only about successes directly in Syria, but also in the entire Middle
East direction of Russian foreign policy.
Eugene
Rumer, director of the Russia and Eurasia program at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace, writes in the American journal Foreign Affairs that
"Russia is an irreplaceable country in the Middle East" (2).
In support
of this conclusion, the author cites the following arguments: “Russia was on
the wave of success in the Middle East. The Russian air forces saved the Assad
regime from inevitable defeat. Now Turkey and Israel are obliged to put up with
the presence of the Russian military at their borders. Saudi Arabia made a warm
welcome to Russian President Vladimir Putin. And US President Donald Trump
thanked Putin for his assistance in the operation to eliminate Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State. "Russia is increasingly
participating in the affairs of this region as Americans move away from there,
and even the success of the operation to eliminate al-Baghdadi cannot hide this
trend."
Eugene
Rumer also draws attention to the extensive economic contracts that Moscow has
concluded with many countries in the Middle East region, including those with
which a confrontation with which only yesterday seemed inevitable.
The
Croatian analyst Vedran Obučina agrees with him, who in his article “Russia as
a new powerful force in the Middle East” in the Croatian publication “Advance”
dwells on this issue in more detail: “Russia has shown how significant its
influence in the Middle East is when October 14 In 2019, for the first time in
more than ten years, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Saudi Arabia and
then traveled to the United Arab Emirates. ”
Russia
deployed its troops in northern Syria, taking on the mission that the United
States abandoned. However, the difference here is that the United States are
uninvited guests and invaders, and Russia arrived at the invitation of the
legitimately elected leadership of the Syrian Arab Republic.
In 2015, when
Russia sent troops to Syria, Saudi Arabia supported the Syrian rebels. And now,
thanks to Russia's military successes in Syria and thanks to classical Russian
diplomacy in the region, Russia is strengthening ties with this country.
Between
Russia and Saudi Arabia, more than a dozen memorandums of understanding have
been signed. There are good prospects for cooperation in the profitable energy
sector, especially in the gas industry. The Russian private equity fund has
acquired thirty percent of the state-owned oil company Saudi Armaco. And the
Saudis, on the contrary, bought the same stake in Novomet, the Russian supplier
of oil equipment. They also signed an agreement that they will invest $ 600
million in Rosavialization. Saudi Arabia agreed and lift restrictions on wheat
imports.
Thus,
Russia and Saudi Arabia are taking their first steps towards each other in the
name of strengthening economic ties.
Putin also
visited the United Arab Emirates, which is also an important military and
economic country in the Middle East. The result of his visit was the conclusion
of agreements totaling more than $ 1.3 billion in the areas of energy, advanced
technology and healthcare.
This visit
was not made from scratch. Last year, Moscow and Abu Dhabi signed the Declaration
on Strategic Partnership, which clearly formulated the goals of cooperation
between the two states. Among them are both economic cooperation and the fight
against terrorism.
The UAE is
Moscow's largest trading partner among all members of the Arab Gulf Cooperation
Council, and the trade balance between the two countries in 2018 reached $ 1.7
billion.
Last year
alone, a million Russian tourists visited the UAE as tourists, leaving over $
1.3 billion there. This is one of the first places among countries from which
tourists visit this country.
Gazpromneft
and Mubadala Petroleum are present in this country and participate in joint
projects, developing fields in Siberia, and Lukoil received five percent in the
gas concession Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. in the UAE. During Putin’s visit, the
parties signed a total of $ 1.4 billion worth of contracts. Five cooperation
agreements were also signed, new opportunities for partnerships in the field of
the development of artificial intelligence and telecommunications were
identified, and agreements were signed on the supply of Russian aircraft and
helicopters to the UAE.
One cannot
disagree with the completely fair assessment of the Director General of the
Russian Council on Foreign Affairs Andrei Kortunov: “Russia, unlike, say, the
United States, manages to act as a legitimate mediator, a mediator that almost
all regional players are ready to work with: Sunnis and Shiites, Iranians and
Saudis, Israelis and Palestinians, Turks and Kurds. It is more difficult to
establish interaction with external players - Americans and Europeans, but they
also recognize, albeit reluctantly, the leading role of Moscow in Syria. With
relatively small initial investments in the Middle East, Russia has become
perhaps the most influential player ”(3).
Thus, an
analysis of Russia's steps in the Middle East after troops were sent to Syria -
not only in the military, but also in the economic and diplomatic fields -
shows the undoubted success of its foreign policy in the Middle East.
Inal Pliev,
political
observer of the IA "Res"
http://cominf.org/node/1166526408
-------------------
1. The
article “What is the Middle East for Russia: success or still a trap?” On the
Military Review website dated November 28, 2017. Access Mode:
https://topwar.ru/130598-chto-takoe-blizhniy-vostok-dlya-rossii-uspeh-ili-vse-zhe-lovushka.html
2. Eugene
Rumer’s article “Russia is an indispensable country in the Middle East” in the
journal “Foreign Affairs” Access mode:
https://news.rambler.ru/middleeast/43093865/?utm_content=rnews&utm_medium=read_more&utm_source=copylink
3. The
article “The successes of Russian foreign policy in recent months are
undeniable. Five factors that make Russia so influential (and what's the catch)
”on the Medusa website. Access Mode:
https://meduza.io/feature/2019/10/30/uspehi-rossiyskoy-vneshney-politiki-v-poslednie-mesyatsy-nesomnenny-pyat-faktorov-kotorye-delayut-rossiyu-takoy-vliyatelnoy-iv
-chem-podvoh
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