Vladimir Putin has been looking to use the violence threatening to engulf the Middle East to impose Russia as a mediator between Israel and Hamas.
The Russian leader has been on a diplomatic offensive in the past week speaking to both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas
Russia has also held talks with Egypt, Syria and Iran the latter being the main foreign military and financial backer of both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Publically, the Kremlin says Putin is simply seeking to “stop the bloodshed” but some Middle East analysts believe there is more to Russia’s approach than straightforward humanitarian.
Retired British Army officer Colonel Richard Kemp believes Putin is looking to exploit the conflict between Hamas and Israel to re-establish Russia’s battered reputation within the Arab World.
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Writing in the Telegraph, Col. Kemp argues that Russia may have once enjoyed oversized influence in the Middle East but this has since been shattered by the conflict in Ukraine.
Col Kemp declared: “If the Russian president thinks his intervention will make any difference, however, he is deluding himself. The idea that Moscow could any longer hold significant sway in the Middle East is farcical.
“Whatever reputation it had as a world power has been shattered in Ukraine.”
The defence analyst believes that Russian defeats on the battlefield have diminished the country’s standing among Middle Eastern states.
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The collapse of Wagner following Yevgeny Progozhin’s coup attempt has also weakened Russian influence with the mercenary group playing an important role in projecting the Kremlin’s influence in the region, added Kemp.
Another blow to Russian-Arab ties has been Moscow’s relationship with Iran which has been viewed with suspicion in Arab capitals.
It comes as Russia announced the country was sending humanitarian aid to Gaza via the Egyptian Red Crescent.
Russia’s Deputy Emergency Situations Minister said: “A special plane has taken off from the airport at Ramenskoye near Moscow for El-Arish in Egypt. The Russian humanitarian aid will be handed over to the Egyptian Red Crescent to be sent to the Gaza Strip.”
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