Expert: US will try to minimize its losses in the Middle East via summit with Russia

15 June 2021


US President Joe Biden, during his upcoming meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Geneva on June 16, will try to minimize the scale of the losses of US policy in the Middle East in recent years. This opinion was expressed by Palestinian expert and editor-in-chief of the London-based pan-Arab newspaper Rai Al Youm Abdel Bari Atwan in a conversation with TASS on Tuesday.


"The US has pursued a very misguided policy in the Middle East, especially during Donald Trump's presidency. They lost in Syria, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, from where they are already withdrawing their troops. <...> At the same time, Russia has managed to regain and consolidate its position and interests in the region. <...> And I think, the summit will be talking about reducing Washington's losses in the Middle East," said the expert.


In particular, in his opinion, the Biden administration will change its policy towards Damascus through Moscow. "Obviously, the meeting will also talk about Syria, where Russia won, and with it, the Syrian regime [of President Bashar al-Assad] won. <...> The US will try to enter the Middle East in a new way and through the gates of Russia," Atwan noted.


The expert also does not rule out the possibility of Washington starting to engage with the Syrian authorities. "It is common knowledge that the US spent $90 billion and armed 65 countries around the world to overthrow the regime in Syria, but their plans failed completely, while Russia, in turn, succeeded and contributed to the preservation and strengthening of Syrian sovereignty. So the upcoming summit [for the US] is an opportunity to end the war, withdraw its troops and restore relations with Syria, as Saudi Arabia, for example, is doing," he added.


Palestinian-Israeli conflict


According to the expert, Biden will try to enlist Moscow's support in Washington's efforts to find a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. "Obviously, Biden will seek to use Moscow's influence in the region. <...> If we are talking about trying to solve the [Palestinian-Israeli] conflict, we now have to take into account Russia's strong position in the Middle East. Without it, there can be no Middle East settlement. In essence, the region is returning to the situation that it was in Soviet times," the specialist is convinced.


"At the moment, the Biden administration is making adjustments to American policy on the Palestinian issue. The previous administration took steps that had a negative impact on the US as well as on Israel: I mean the transfer of the embassy to Jerusalem and the recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory. All this, in fact, provoked another escalation of the conflict in the region," he stressed.


According to the expert, in the recent confrontation between Israel and Palestinian groups, "the Hamas [controlling the Gaza Strip] movement, led by Iran, has won".


Recent hostilities between Palestinians and Israelis, as well as developments in Syria, have, in his view, completely changed the situation in the Middle East. "The region has changed very much, and the Biden administration needs to understand these changes, reassess past [US] policies, and engage with Russia for the new Middle East," Atwan summarized.


As previously reported by the Kremlin and the White House, Putin and Biden will meet on June 16 in Geneva. According to the Russian leader's press service, the heads of state will discuss the state and prospects for further development of bilateral relations, problems of strategic stability, as well as topical issues on the international agenda, including cooperation in the fight against pandemics and the resolution of regional conflicts. This will be the first meeting between Putin and Biden since the latter took office as US president.

 

 

GSV "Russia - Islamic World"

Photo: Vladimir Gerdo / TASS

Based on materials from TASS