Russia’s role in ensuring security and stability in the Middle East is constantly growing, and the latest agreement between Moscow and Ankara on Syria was only one of a number of successes of the Russian Federation in strengthening its position in the region, on Thursday a senior researcher at the Taihe analytical center Wu Yihun told RIA Novosti.
On Tuesday, the presidents of Russia and Turkey signed a memorandum that provides for the entry of the Russian military police and the Syrian border service outside the Turkish operation zone on the Syrian side of the Turkish border. They will facilitate the withdrawal of Kurdish troops and their weapons 30 kilometers from the border within 150 hours. From this moment, a joint Russian-Turkish patrol will begin to a depth of ten kilometers from the border to the west and east of the operation area “Source of Peace”, except for the city of Kamyshly.
“If you analyze the events in chronology, the successful mediation of Russia in the conflict between Turkey and Syria is not an isolated case, it is inextricably linked with the recent diplomatic efforts of Russia in the Middle East, especially in relation to the Gulf countries”, – the expert said, commenting on Russia’s recent achievements in the Middle East.
The expert recalled that earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Saudi Arabia and following the visit, more than 20 bilateral cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding were signed in various fields, including energy, communications, investment, civil aviation, the media, as well as in the field of space exploration and military-technical cooperation. After that, the Russian leader went on a visit to the United Arab Emirates, where the parties discussed cooperation in the space industry, energy and tourism, signing agreements worth $1.4 billion.
“For Moscow, the UAE is undoubtedly the most important trading partner in the Persian Gulf region. The UAE, in turn, like most Arab States, recognizes that Russia’s role in ensuring regional security and stability in the middle East is becoming increasingly significant. At the same time, more and more people in the UAE recognize that the White house can demonstrate its strength only in a verbal spat with Iran”, – the analyst said.
According to him, “President Putin just used the growing day by day feeling of mistrust between the United States and its allies in the middle East to prove that Russia is a credible country that can take concrete actions to support its allies”.
“Trump announced the withdrawal of American troops from Syria, Russia, on the contrary, is actively entering the middle East, which will encourage Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Qatar and other Arab countries to take a more independent and balanced position against the major powers”, – he said.