Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's working trip to Bahrain and then to Saudi Arabia is aimed at strengthening a balanced position of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries on Ukraine. Another basic task is to promote the existing understanding in the Arab world that the problem of the global food crisis is largely artificially exacerbated by the West in its confrontation with Russia. Boris Dolgov, senior researcher at the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, shared his opinion in a conversation with TASS.
The expert recalled that Lavrov's visit to Bahrain took place on Tuesday and was a logical continuation of the minister's April meeting with his Bahraini counterpart Abdel Latif bin Rashed al-Zayani in Moscow. Already on Wednesday in Riyadh, the head of the Russian diplomatic office will take part in the next meeting of the Russia - GCC Foreign Ministers Forum. Both items on the program reflect the "priority importance" that Russian foreign policy attaches to the Near and Middle East region, the specialist believes. "If we talk about the issues that will figure in the forum's work - these are issues of expanding economic cooperation, the situation in the Middle East, and some others," Dolgov noted. - "On a more global level, issues concerning the Ukrainian crisis are likely to be touched upon."
Ukrainian factor
The analyst recalled that none of the GCC countries "supported the Russophobic campaign against Russia by the West." "Moreover, Saudi Arabia even offered its assistance as a platform for negotiations. This position remains in force," the agency's interlocutor continued. - "Russia is interested in ensuring that the position of these countries [on the relevant issue] is adequate".
In this regard, the expert stressed that for the Russian side during the upcoming contacts it is important to outline "the formation of a more concrete position of these Arab countries" regarding the Ukrainian crisis and the prospects for further cooperation with Russia amid the pressure of the West. This issue is also exacerbated by the food problem, which is being exaggerated in Western countries in connection with the situation in Ukraine.
"As for the food crisis and the problem of nearly world hunger, I would note, first of all, that this is to a certain extent an aggravation, one side of the information war of the West against Russia, because if we look at the official data, Ukraine is somewhere in seventh place in terms of grain shipments. Russia, the USA, Canada, Australia and even countries of the European Union are ahead of Ukraine", the expert continued. - "Actually the situation does not depend on Ukraine that much. However, this issue will probably be touched upon in the negotiations between Russia and these countries and will be solved in accordance with the interests of the parties".
At the same time, the analyst stressed that the topic of the food crisis does not sound much in the respective countries and "does not appear in an alarmist light." "There is an understanding in Arab countries that this topic is part of the information war. And they don't have any serious concerns about it," Dolgov stressed, noting that fostering this understanding is also a basic task of the upcoming official meetings.
Regional agenda
Among other topics that will figure in Lavrov's bilateral contacts and at the forum meeting, Dolgov named expanding economic cooperation and regional themes in the Middle East. "Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries are now somewhat reconsidering their position on the Syrian conflict. There have been visits by the Syrian leader [Bashar al-Assad] to these countries and reciprocal visits by representatives of these countries to Damascus. And in this sense, it's an indicator of the success of Russian policy as well," he continued. - "These countries used to support armed Islamist groups, but now they're building relations with the Syrian leadership, and that's an important point. I think this issue will be touched upon, too".
According to the expert, the current state of affairs in Yemen and Libya will not be left without attention, because "it affects the interests of both Russia and those countries". However, expanding economic cooperation may receive more priority. "Russia is developing cooperation with these countries. If we talk about the oil and gas issue, of course, it will be discussed taking into account the current situation with prices and quotas," Dolgov noted.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS