“Many of the Middle East states are saying: there’s been four years and the US has made a mess of Syria, and it hasn’t done anything [to clear it],” Faysal Itani, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank, told The Wall Street Journal.
“Now, finally, they believe there’s a grown-up in the room in Russia,” he added.
“Over the past month, Russian and allied forces have cleared the areas around Latakia and pushed the rebels back toward the Turkish border. They also are believed to be close to cutting off the rebels’ last supply lines from Aleppo back into Turkey,” acknowledges the New York-based newspaper.
Each of the countries mentioned above has its own reason to seek out cooperation with Russia.
For Israel, it says, it is hope that “Russia could help constrain Iranian operations against Israel from Syria.”
“The Israeli government’s consultations with Russia aim to ensure their militaries don’t unintentionally clash in Syria,” write the newspaper, quoting anonymous Israeli officials.
Egypt is “supportive of any international effort to eradicate terrorism from Syria,” according to Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.
“Our understanding from our discussions with the Russians is that their primary focus and intervention is targeting the terrorist organizations,” he added.
For United Arab Emirates, it is a push for a “united approach to ending the Syrian war and combating Daesh (the Islamic State/ISIL/ISIS).
“We should work together and put our regional disagreements aside,” UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan said last week after the meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with the UAE’s crown prince and other Emirati officials in Abu Dhabi on the issue.
All four countries continue regular consultation with Moscow on its operations with Syria, much to the displeasure of Washington.
“The dynamic reflects growing frustration among some US allies with the Obama administration’s position, and runs the risk of making the battlefield even more chaotic,” the newspaper states.
