Russia steps up its game in Mideast diplomacy
The heavy traffic between Moscow and the Middle East after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Russia last week signals that Russia is looking to quickly solidify its relationships with regional partners.
Since US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit April 12 to Moscow, Russian diplomats and officials have been busy meeting with all the key regional stakeholders in Syria. In just three days, on April 13-15, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hosted in the Russian capital the foreign ministers of Syria, Iran and Qatar.
On April 16, the speaker of the upper chamber of Russia’s parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, traveled to Saudi Arabia.
In the midst of all this activity, an April 14 conference on settling the situation in Afghanistan brought to Moscow senior diplomatic and security officials from 11 countries. Moscow sees Afghan security as key to Middle Eastern stability.
Lavrov’s meeting with Syrian and Iranian counterparts was critical for them to reiterate their common stance on the Syrian conflict. For Tehran and Damascus, it was also important to hear that Moscow stands firm in its position and hadn’t struck any deals behind their backs with Washington during the Tillerson visit — at least not any that could essentially tip the balance to their detriment.
