President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China on May 20-21 culminated in the signing of roughly 50 agreements ushering in a period of unprecedented convergence between the two countries. Does this affect the situation in the Middle East and, if so, in what way?

Everything seems to indicate that the answer to the first part of this question is yes. Seemingly, the Middle East was not the focus of the talks between the two leaders. For all the obvious asymmetry in interests, however, the consensus between Russia and China seems to allow the two parties to seek further coordination in their actions, thus taking each other's concerns into greater account. Such consensus includes Syria, despite Beijing’s lesser involvement on this issue, relative to Moscow; Iran, within the P5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program; the fight against terrorism and extremism; the creation of a weapons of mass destruction-free Middle East; the condemnation of external intervention and the strategy of "regime change" as well as the push for "color revolutions;" the policy to reach a settlement in the Middle East; and relations with the new Egyptian regime and with respect to the Sudanese issues.

Last year, one of China’s main strategic regional projects was the economic region (or belt) of the 21st century Great Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road, which intends to create a wide area of Chinese economic presence from China’s western borders to Europe. Although it does not aim to harm Russia’s integration projects or the development prospects of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in any way, the plan can still be construed as a specific challenge to Moscow. It is noteworthy that the project’s "region," despite its vaguely defined boundaries, also clearly comprises the countries of Western Asia (i.e., the Middle East).

Symbolically, soon after the talks with Putin, the Chinese leader opened the Sixth Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum on June 5 in Beijing. The economy was the focus of President Xi Jinping’s speech in which he explained the meaning of the new formula "1+2+3" in Sino-Arab cooperation, namely: energy cooperation; infrastructure construction and creation of favorable conditions for trade and investment; and high-tech domains of nuclear energy, the space rocket sector and new energy sources. It was suggested that the creation of a free trade zone between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) be accelerated. But there was a place for politics, too. In particular, Xi stated that China supports the peace process and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, "enjoying full sovereignty."