On February 13, 2018, the Valdai Discussion Club held a briefing for journalists on the eve of its conference “Russia in the Middle East: Playing on All Fields”. The speakers – Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, and Vitaly Naumkin, Academic Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences – talked about the tasks of the conference and shared their vision of Russia’s role in the Middle East.
Andrey Bystritskiy said that the annual Middle East conference is one of the most successful projects of the Club. According to him, it is not so easy to bring together representatives of the region’s countries, often hostile to each other, and to establish dialogue between them. Russia, and the Valdai Club in particular, succeeds in this from year to year. Good knowledge of the Middle East, rich experience of mediation and the ability to maintain relations with all parties make Russia an important player, generating more interest to Moscow’s policy from the regional powers.
Every year, the Valdai Club Middle East conference brings together leading experts on the region, current and former politicians and diplomats. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to be the guest of this year’s event.
According to Vitaly Naumkin, the title of the conference should not be interpreted as suggesting Russia’s “indiscrimination.” The ability to maintain relationships with all participants in the Middle East processes shows that Russia pursues a very high-precision policy which allows it to operate even under the most stringent conditions.
While answering journalists’ questions, the speakers highlighted various aspects of Russia's involvement in Middle Eastern affairs, especially in the intra-Syrian peace settlement. In particular, Vitaly Naumkin pointed to the importance of dialogue with Turkey to achieve peace in Syria. Russia takes into account the concerns of Turkey related to the Syrian Kurds. Therefore, representatives of the Democratic Union Party and the People’s Self-Defense Forces, regarded by Turkey as terrorist organizations, were not invited to the Congress of the Syrian National Dialogue in Sochi. Naumkin stressed that Russia supports the Kurds’ aspirations in terms of ensuring their national rights and administrative self-government, but is categorically against separatist tendencies in Syria, which, according to many, are fuelled by the United States.
“We assume that excessive separatist aspirations are harmful,” he said. “They are harmful to both Kurds and Syria. Therefore, if dreams of secession and establishment of their own statehood are behind this, if the Kurds’ American partners inspire them with the idea that they will help them achieve something, these hopes will be overthrown,” Naumkin said.
The issue of alleged participation of Russian mercenaries in the Syrian conflict was also touched upon. According to media reports, in early February, Russian citizens were killed during the US-led coalition’s attack on the Syrian government troops. Naumkin noted that this story is inflated by those who want to achieve even greater tension in relations between Russia and the United States.
“The US is engaged in military actions in Syria, including actions against the Syrian army, and there were citizens with Russian passports [...] But these are citizens whom the Russian state did not send there. If a person goes to fight for money somewhere, under contract, they put their life at risk,” Naumkin said. At the same time, he stressed that information on the participation of Russian mercenaries was unproven and called not to overblow the situation.
Along with the conflict, there are examples of positive interaction between Russia and the United States on Syria, Naumkin stressed. Thus, tripartite agreements on the de-escalation zones in southern Syria have proved to be effective. “Together with the United States and Jordan, we agreed to establish a de-escalation zone in the south-west of Syria, and it works even better than others, for example, in East Ghouta or Idlib,” the expert said.
The successes of Russia’s multi-vector policy in the Middle East are of interest even where its presence has been minimal historically – for example, in the Gulf region. “We know the region better than the Americans do,” Naumkin noted. “While the US has more power, we act more skillfully, our steps are better calculated. But we do not intend to drive the US out of the Gulf. Although Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are turning to us, this is a fact.”
According to Naumkin, all of this suggests that Russia is to stay in the Middle East. This is being recognized both in the region and beyond. Therefore, one of the key tasks of the conference will be a more precise definition of the motives of the Middle Eastern states, which strengthen ties with Russia.
