Moscow and the Middle East since the Collapse of the Soviet Union: A Preliminary Analysis

From Khrushchev and Brezhnev to Putin: Has Moscow’s Policy in the Middle East Come Full Circle?

“…Putin also sought to exploit Saudi Arabia’s unhappiness with the USA over its invasion of Iraq because that allowed the majority Shia in Iraq to take power from the Sunnis. As relations improved, Putin made a visit to Saudi Arabia in 2007, the first Russian leader to do so, seeking investments in the Russian economy, and both before and after the visit he agreed to limited sanctions against Iran, which was Saudi Arabia’s main adversary in the Middle East (Freedman, 2001a).…”

“…Nonetheless, once Putin took office he resolved to improve Russian–Turkish relations and sent then Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Kasyanov, to Turkey in October 2000 to sign a number of agreements. During his visit Kasyanov stated “Our main mutual conclusion is that Russia and Turkey are not rivals but partners and our governments from now on will proceed from this understanding” (Freedman, 2001b, p. 50).…”

Vol 60 Nr. 4 (2002)

“…Ruslands aendrede fokus ekspliciteres i «Jeltsin-Kosyrev-strategien», som bliver introduceret i midten af 1994. Årsagerne til den stigende opmaerksomhed omkring det sydlige Kaukasus er flere, for det første at der i forbindelse med parlamentsvalget i december 1993 er sket en højredrejning, som tvinger praesident Boris Jeltsin i en mere nationalistisk retning (Freedman 1996), for det andet at der er en stigende utilfredshed med, at Tyrkiet og Iran siden 1991 har benyttet magttomrummet i regionen til at øge deres indflydelse, og endelig at USA har formuleret en mere aktiv Sydkaukasus-strategi for at støtte de nye sydkaukasiske staters uafhaengighed. Ruslands aendrede sikkerhedspolitiske fokus har betydet, at Rusland har stoppet sin tilbagetraekning af soldater.…”