On March 15, 2023, Vladimir Putin of Russia welcomed a special visit of Syria's Bashar al-Assad to the Kremlin in Moscow. The two heads of state will conduct in-depth discussions in Moscow on political, military and economic bilateral cooperation**.
Both Russia and Syria are currently in the difficult predicament of war and civil strife, and the situation in both countries is very serious. However, despite the fact that both countries** are busy with domestic affairs, they still have time to meet, which shows that the relationship between the two countries is very special.
In fact, both Russia and Syria have this kind of diplomacy several times a year, and both sides see each other as staunch allies, and this partnership has been going on for many years.
Putin's support for Syria may be inextricably linked to Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi. How did his deep relationship with these two former Middle Eastern emperors influence his current international decision-making?
The struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War was not only surging in terms of equipment, but also unfolding in various other forms and places. For example, in eastern Asia, the United States inciting Taiwan against Chinese mainland can be seen as a provocation against China behind the Soviet Union, and geopolitical relations are complicated.
In the Middle East, for example, it was one of the main geopolitical battlefields of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. The two superpowers are here to find various spokespeople, to give them a voice and to pay for it.
In the Middle East at that time, the United States supported Israel and Turkey as its own representatives in the Middle East. Israel has abundant oil resources and a strong military force, while Turkey's territory straddles the Eurasian continent and occupies the main channel of the strait, which is strategically located.
The United States and Turkey, located on the southwestern flank of the Soviet Union, were like two nails stuck in the back of the Soviet Union, which made the Soviet Union feel pressure. In order to counter the two "thugs" of the United States in the Middle East, the Soviet Union supported two countries in the region as spokesmen, namely Egypt and Syria, which border Turkey and Israel.
Egypt and Syria were in a state of chaos for a long time, but with the support of the Soviet Union, the two countries temporarily stabilized and confronted Turkey and Israel. However, the change of leadership in the USSR brought about some changes.
Brezhnev succeeded Khrushchev, who had a tough political stance and often tried to control and interfere in the sovereignty of the allies.
The Soviet Union under Leonid Brezhnev made political threats against countries such as Egypt and China. But in 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, causing a bad political impact in Asia.
This kind of behavior was resisted and resisted by China, Egypt, Afghanistan and other countries, which led to the bitterness between China and the Soviet Union, Egypt and Afghanistan, and the Soviet Union quickly lost a large number of allies.
After the breakdown of relations between the Soviet Union and Egypt, it had only one ally in the Middle East, Syria. However, in the face of pressure from many sides, Syria could not stand alone, which also led to the weakening of Soviet influence in the region.
The Soviet Union's invasion and domestic woes wiped out its influence in the Middle East. Although Russia was re-established after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and relations with Middle Eastern countries began to normalize and equalize, its power could no longer match that of the United States after seven or eight years of turmoil.
In order to resist the oppression of the United States, Russia began to seek the support of external forces, develop energy science and technology and actively look for energy countries as allies. However, the Middle East, the world's largest concentration of energy nations, is already firmly controlled by the United States.
In this case, Russia can only look for those allies who are not afraid of the American threat. Fortunately, there are two countries in the Middle East that are in line with Russia's position: Libya and Iraq.
The two countries are controlled by the Gaddafi family and the Saddam regime, respectively, and they have the determination and courage to stand together with Russia against the United States.
On the international stage, some countries are in the spotlight because of their abundant energy resources and developed economies, and their leaders are often troubled times. Russia has a strong need for an alliance with such a country.
Leaders Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, who came to power in 2000, began to visit these countries to seek opportunities to build alliances. It was through these visits that Putin had in-depth exchanges and dialogues with Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi.
These meetings and exchanges have undoubtedly laid a solid foundation for Russia's position and influence in international affairs.
Putin and his allies are worried about the fragility of the nascent Russian regime. As the leader of Russia who came to power in 2000, Putin has the strong experience of the Red Soviet Union and is even more aware of the fragility of the current Russian regime.
Putin is well aware of Russia's predicament, and he is convinced that Russia has great potential for development, but economic problems have become a bottleneck for its development. After all, Russia is a vast country, rich in minerals, and in the era of great industry, there is a strong demand for resources in the market.
As long as these resources are properly utilized, Russia's economy will rise rapidly.
During the Soviet era, many members of the leadership relied on coal to make their fortunes, which made the Soviet Union pay more attention to coal resources than oil and gas resources. As a result, Russia's technology and strength in oil and gas development are relatively weak.
It was only after the Soviet-German war that Russia began to experiment with the energy transition, but the development of oil and gas resources was slow due to its dependence on coal. This, combined with the economic turmoil and currency depreciation during the collapse of the Soviet Union, led to a weak economic development in Russia.
Putin turned around the plight of the Soviet coal mining industry through resource-cooperative diplomacy. This diplomatic strategy involves working with resource-needing countries or powers to compensate for Russia's lack of resources over the past few decades in a way that allows for the exchange of technology and resources.
The establishment of diplomatic relations with China** has also been strengthened under the guidance of this policy.
1.Since taking office, Putin has actively expanded his diplomacy and visited Middle Eastern countries many times with the aim of strengthening ties and cooperation with these regions. 2.Putin and his deputy Dmitry Medvedev recently visited Asian countries, focusing on countries that have strained relations with the United States and are not members of NATO.
3.Russian leaders Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev actively seek cooperation with Asian countries, especially against the backdrop of tensions between the United States and NATO, with which they pay more attention to ties.
During his "trip to Asia" for almost a year, Putin was satisfied with Libya and Iraq. These two countries represent two kinds of order in the Middle East: the order of strong political and armed forces piled up with money and the order of absolute hegemony of the ruling forces.
The reason why Russia favors these two countries is that they both have extraordinary qualifications, and more importantly, they are not **, and they are even more anti-American.
The two Middle Eastern heads of state, Muammar Gaddafi and Saddam, despite being pinned down by the United States, still adhere to the ** policy for the sake of independence and strength. Putin has a deep impression of these two figures, who belong to the type of "good people do not live long, and disasters will last for thousands of years".
Putin said with emotion that it is precisely because of the influence of these two men in the Middle East that Russia can secretly accumulate strength under the diversion of attention from the NATO bloc.
Relations between these two countries and friendly countries of the United States in the Middle East are not harmonious, especially with Turkey. Turkey is one of the most hostile countries to Russia because it is a real country, uses a full set of equipment according to NATO standards, and is the face of the United States.
To make matters worse, Turkey once deliberately shot down a Russian warplane, almost triggering a war between the two countries.
1.Russia's Putin had expected Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez and Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe to teach Turkey a hard lesson, given that the Turkish Air Force was equipped with American-made F-16 fighter jets.
Mugabe and Chávez were once in power with the support of illegal militants and **elements, but were regarded by Western countries as ***2Russia** Putin had hoped that Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez and Zimbabwean leader Mugabe would teach Turkey a lesson, given that the Turkish Air Force is equipped with American-made F-16 fighter jets.
Mugabe and Chávez were once in power with the support of illegal militants and **elements, and Western countries regarded them as ***3Russia's Putin wants Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez and Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe to teach Turkey a lesson, given that the Turkish Air Force is equipped with American-made F-16 fighter jets.
Mugabe and Chavez were once in power with the support of illegal armed forces and **elements, and Western countries regarded them as ***
Gaddafi came to power by rioting, and cooperating with Russia was like a tiger. However, this is also expected by Putin. These two strongmen in the Middle East are destined to not last long.
Twenty years later, Putin is still alive, while Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi have died, leaving behind a Syrian regime that has built a new order in the midst of chaos.
Why does Russia support Syria? There is no one set answer to this question, as we may find multiple explanations depending on the situation.
Despite its internal chaos, weak economy and lack of realizable resources, Syria's status as a major power is more symbolic than a piece of chicken ribs.
However, even then, Russia still chose to form an alliance with Syria. Behind this choice, is it really just for Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi? When the internal war broke out in Syria in 2011, Russia not only provided a large amount of assistance to Syria, but also sent a group of military officers to serve as political advisers.
In 2015, Russia once again stepped into Syria's internal turmoil, this time directly sending troops to help Syria get out of its predicament as soon as possible. Immediately afterward, with a stroke of his pen, Putin forgave Syria's debt for the most part, a move that won Syria's favor, which led to closer ties between the two countries and deepening Russia's ties with the Middle East.
With the establishment of diplomatic relations and cooperation in an all-round way, Russia has paid more attention to the Middle East region, from the initial economic cooperation to the deepening of diversified political relations.
Russia's relations with Syria are very close. It is of great significance that Russia has set up a naval base in the port of Tartus, an important port in Syria, making it an important port of stay and supply base for the Far Eastern Fleet overseas.
For now, the two countries continue to maintain dialogue and deepen cooperation, not only for mutual benefit, but for Russia, doing so can divert the focus of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Putin has been able to remain calm in the face of criticism from the countries behind Ukraine, not because he has nothing to do, but because he must show tenacity or risk being taken advantage of.
However, firmness also has its limits, Putin is not superhuman, he does not have special abilities to save Russia, therefore, he is forced to look for other ways to solve the problem.
In Putin's view, the root cause of the Russia-Ukraine war lies in the competition for energy, and if he can transfer the contradiction to other energy disputes, then his own pressure will be reduced.
Russia has recently made frequent contacts with the Middle East, and has even sold its oil resources to India, which seems to be making money at a loss, but it has succeeded in attracting some of the attention of the United States.
The United States also needs resources, and the demand for oil is more urgent than India's. During this period when Russia refused to accept ** oil, the United States could only reluctantly accept ** oil.
Therefore, seeing that India is able to obtain oil at a low price, the United States will naturally feel red and jealous. Putin's goal of diverting attention has been successfully achieved.