Russia closer to Europe than is US on MidEast

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (2nd L) listens to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (3rd L) as Russia’s FM Lavrov (L) and Israel’s President Peres (R) sit beside them in Netanya, June 25, 2012. Photo by Reuters

Russian policy on the Middle East

Summary: Russian foreign policy set out in speeches by Putin and Lavrov. Common positions on the Middle East under strain because of Ukraine crisis. Forthcoming Russian initiative on Christianophobia.

From Al Shafie Miles / WAND
November 26, 2014

President Vladimir Putin made a wide-ranging foreign policy speech on 24 October at the Valdai Club. Coming to the Middle East he criticised US exceptionalism.

Maybe it “is a blessing for us all, and their meddling in events all around the world is bringing peace, prosperity, progress, growth and democracy, and we should maybe just relax and enjoy it all? Let me say that this is not the case, absolutely not the case… instead of democracy there is support for a very dubious public ranging from open neo-fascists to Islamic radicals… I never cease to be amazed by the way that our partners just keep stepping on the same rake, as we say here in Russia, that is to say, make the same mistake over and over.

They once sponsored Islamic extremist movements to fight the Soviet Union. Those groups got their battle experience in Afghanistan and later gave birth to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. The West if not supported, at least closed its eyes, and, I would say, gave information, political and financial support to international terrorists’ invasion of Russia (we have not forgotten this) and the Central Asian region’s countries. Only after horrific terrorist attacks were committed on US soil itself did the United States wake up to the common threat of terrorism. Let me remind you that we were the first country to support the American people back then, the first to react as friends and partners to the terrible tragedy of September 11…

I always spoke of the need to fight terrorism together… Our partners expressed agreement, but a little time passed and we ended up back where we started. First there was the military operation in Iraq, then in Libya, which got pushed to the brink of falling apart…

After praising the Egyptian leadership for saving Egypt from chaos Putin asked where extremists obtain finance and recruits, pointing to the increase of drug production in Afghanistan, oil exports from territory controlled by terrorists, whereas in Iraq

Tens of thousands of soldiers, officers and former Baath Party activists were turned out into the streets and today have joined the rebels’ ranks. Perhaps this is what explains why the Islamic State group has turned out so effective?

In reply to a question about the occupation of Palestine Putin said:

Our relations with Israel have transformed seriously in the past decade… a large number of people from the former Soviet Union live in Israel and we cannot remain indifferent to their fate. At the same time, we have traditional relations with the Arab world… the Soviet Union, and Russia is its legal successor, has recognised Palestinian statehood. We are not changing anything here.

Finally, regarding the settlements. We share the views of the main participants in international relations. We consider this a mistake. I have already said this to our Israeli partners. I believe this is an obstacle to normal relations and I strongly expect that the practice itself will be stopped and the entire process of a peaceful settlement will return to its legal course based on agreement.

We proceed from the fact that that Middle East conflict is one of the primary causes of destabilisation not only in the region, but also in the world at large. Humiliation of any people living in the area, or anywhere else in the world is clearly a source of destabilisation and should be done away with…This is a very complicated process, but Russia is ready to use every means it has for this settlement, including its good relations with the parties to this conflict.

In a speech in Moscow on 22 November the Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov referred back to Putin’s speech and said he would offer some considerations based on day-to-day efforts. Coming to the Middle East he said that

the Americans provoke counteraction in keeping with Newton’s third law… I am not referring to anti-Americanism… but only about the natural wish of a growing number of countries to secure their vital interests and do it the way they think right, and not what they are told ‘from across the pond.’

According to its doctrine of national security, the United States has the right to use force anywhere, anytime without necessarily asking the UN Security Council for approval. A coalition against the Islamic State was formed unbeknownst to the Security Council. I asked Secretary of State John Kerry why have not they gone to the UN Security Council for this.

He told me that if they did, they would have to somehow designate the status of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. Of course, they had to because Syria is a sovereign state and still a member of the UN… I believe this is perverse logic. If we are talking about precedents (the United States adheres to case law), it is worth remembering the chemical disarmament in Syria when the Assad regime was a completely legitimate partner of the United States, Russia, the OPCW and others. The Americans maintain talks with the Taliban as well. Whenever the United States has an opportunity to benefit from something, it acts quite pragmatically…

Lavrov went on to speak about Christians, giving notice of a forthcoming Russian proposal. “

State, public and civilisational structures are actually disintegrating in the MENA region… On this backdrop, minorities, including Christians, are banished. In Europe, these issues are deemed not politically correct. They are ashamed when we invite them to do something about it together at the OSCE. They wonder why would we focus specifically on Christians? How is that special? The OSCE has held a series of events dedicated to keeping memories about the Holocaust and its victims alive. A few years ago, the OSCE started holding events against Islamophobia. We will be offering an analysis of the processes leading to Christianophobia.

On 4-5 December, OSCE ministerial meetings will be held in Basel, where we will present this proposal. The majority of EU member states elude this topic, because they are ashamed to talk about it. Just as they were ashamed to include in what was then the EU constitution drafted by Valery Giscard d’Estaing a phrase that Europe has Christian roots. If you don’t remember or respect your own roots and traditions, how would you respect the traditions and values of other people?

On Palestine Lavrov said:

The Arab-Israeli conflict is dead in the water… The Americans… asked for more time to try to achieve some progress before the end of 2014, so that the Palestinians wouldn’t go to the UN and sign the Statute of the International Criminal Court, etc. Suddenly, it transpired that negotiations on Iran are underway. The US State Department dumped Palestine to focus on Iran.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and I agreed to talk on this subject some time soon. It’s important to understand that you can’t keep the problem of the Palestinian state deeply frozen forever. Failure to resolve it for nearly 70 years has been a major argument of those who recruit extremists in their ranks, “there’s no justice: it was promised to create two states; the Jewish one was created, but they will never create an Arab state.” Used on a hungry Arab street, these arguments sound quite plausible, and they start calling for a fight for justice using other methods.

The article below was published on 24 November on the Al Monitor website. The author is Dr Vitaly Naumkin, director of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences and president of the Moscow-based Centre for Strategic and Political Studies.

Russia’s Middle East policy after the G-20 summit

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, ever sceptical of US intentions, elaborates on Russia’s policies in the Middle East — and risks alienating the West.

By Vitaly Naumkin, trans. Franco Galdini
November 24, 2014

Relations between Russia and the United States, as well as between Russia and US-oriented European countries, further deteriorated following the G-20 summit in Brisbane due to the crisis in Ukraine. This poses the question for analysts as to how this situation might affect Moscow’s Middle East policy and the existing forms of cooperation with the West on regional issues, namely: the Middle East quartet of international mediators; the negotiations of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) with Iran; the stabilization of the situation in Yemen; and the fight against terrorism.

Naturally, this kind of co- operation will be preserved, with Russia even bearing some of the political costs. For example, at the 2014 Conference on Non-Proliferation held in Moscow, one of the Iranian participants criticized Russia for its position in the P5+1 talks with Iran — clearly hinting at Russia’s solidarity with the West, rather than with Iran — to which the Russian participant emphasized that in this Moscow was guided exclusively by its national interest.

At the same time, the director of the Centre for Energy and Security Studies, Anton Khlopkov, deplored the tendency to politicize the problem:

It is very unfortunate that this is now noticeable in the relations between Russia and the United States. I have always thought that concerning non-proliferation our interests — of both Moscow and Washington — coincide. Recently, however, on the initiative of our American partners, co-operation on a number of projects has either been frozen or suspended.

The position of the former UK representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Peter Jenkins, drew the attention of experts. He expressed regret that “the Obama administration makes unrealistic promises to Congress,” when it ensures that “it won’t give Tehran the opportunity to create its own nuclear bomb.”

The general atmosphere of mistrust between Russia and the West, especially the United States, also has an impact on Middle Eastern issues. Thus, in Conflicts Forum’s Weekly Comment for Nov. 14-21, it was noted that Russia sees radical Wahhabism and the Islamic State (IS) “as simply another [Saudi-Western] tool that equally can be ‘switched on’ to undermine Russia’s security.” And for Russia and its allies, the next question is: “Does the United States truly want to ‘degrade and destroy’ [IS]?” In this regard, some Western analysts recall accounts that appeared in the Western media after Prince Bandar bin Sultan’s visit to Russian President Vladimir Putin in July 2013. On that occasion, the prince allegedly suggested that the Russian president “abandon Syria,” and “Saudi Arabia would protect the Sochi Olympics from Islamic terrorists.”

Citing the Lebanese paper Al-Safir, the British Daily Telegraph even reported that Bandar added: “The Chechen groups that threaten the security of the [Olympic] Games are controlled by us.” He also reportedly promised to maintain Russia’s base in Tartus, “if the Assad regime is toppled.” It was reported that Putin indignantly rejected these and other proposals by Bandar. This is certainly not the language with which one can influence the Russian leader.

Russian suspicions were reflected in Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s speech at the 22nd annual assembly of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy in Moscow on Nov. 22, which contained several major points relating to the Middle East. An important topic in Lavrov’s statement, it seems to me, was the notion of “Christianophobia” and the need to protect Christians. He stated that next week he intends to raise this issue at the meeting of OSCE foreign ministers and that, on this subject, most EU politicians “fade into the shadows.” He reproached European leaders for being ashamed even to mention “the Christian roots” of European civilization during the discussion of the draft EU Constitution in the recent past. “If you do not respect your own roots, then you are not going to respect the values and traditions of others.” It is evident here that Russia is positioning itself as the protector of Christians in the world within the philosophical framework of “enlightened conservatism,” which is based on traditional values. Thus, the principles emanating from the Islamic segment of Russian society are also included in the overall construction of this “field of traditional values.”

Another item in the speech concerned co-operation with the Syrian regime in the fight against IS. In my opinion, it is significant in this part of the statement that the Russian foreign minister did not defend Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but first and foremost stressed that Syria was a sovereign state and a member of the United Nations — from which it hasn’t been expelled by anyone. He levelled harsh criticism at the United States’ claim that it has the right to use force wherever it may be without the approval of the UN Security Council. In the case of Syria, Lavrov even asked US Secretary of State John Kerry why the United Stats did not seek authorization from the UN Security Council, to which — in Lavrov’s words — Kerry replied: “If we do, we will somehow validate the status of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.”

Lavrov noted that, when it was needed, the United States co-operated perfectly well with the Syrian regime in destroying the stockpiles of chemical weapons, whereas now it does not want to treat the regime as a partner in the fight against terrorism. With regard to the well-known argument against co-operation with the regime, that it attracts terrorists to Syria “like a magnet,” Lavrov said that it was a “totally perverse logic,” because the Americans were talking to the Taliban, for example. In this regard, Lavrov even wondered whether in Syria the Americans “are actually conducting an operation against IS, or rather an operation to overthrow the regime.”

Another significant feature in the minister’s appearance was his reflections on the issue of the Arab-Israeli conflict, which he emphasized in unusually strong terms. If one wants to highlight the main elements in this part of Lavrov’s speech, it is possible to note, first of all, his call for a speedy resolution of the Palestinian issue through the creation of a Palestinian state alongside the Jewish one. As he put it, “one cannot keep the Palestinian issue permanently frozen.” The minister even chided US diplomacy, which first took nine months to promote a settlement, then extended this timeline, but then engaged with Iran, “leaving aside” Palestine. Second, the lack of resolution to the Palestinian problem was linked to the rise of extremism. Specifically, the minister said that a settlement not having been reached “for almost 70 years is one of the major arguments for those who recruit extremists into their ranks.” In this context, one may recall how strongly Israeli politicians reacted when Kerry made a similar argument, despite the United States having for years considered Israel’s security as a major foreign policy priority.

Is Lavrov running the risk of causing an equally negative reaction? Of course, Russia cannot be compared to the United States, for which everything that is connected to Israel is a matter of domestic — rather than foreign — policy. Moscow, however, maintains very good relations with Israel, which is home to over a million former Russian and CIS citizens. Likewise, some foreign policy steps in Moscow are implemented by taking into account Israel’s interests. Thus, Iranian and Syrian analysts often criticize Moscow for refusing — in spite of its promises — to supply Tehran and Damascus with S-300 missile systems due to the strong opposition of Israeli leaders.

Will Russia still be ready to co-operate with the United States and its allies in the fight against Islamist terrorism? I am confident it will. At the same time, however, the old Chinese saying springs to mind: “Who can remove the tiger from the room? Only the one who put it there.”