Israel And Turkey Mediate To End The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine
Plus: Does Russia want to take the Iran nuclear deal as a hostage? Egypt and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Angelina Jolie in Yemen, and an Israeli rabbi in Iran.
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Before we jump into the news, I suggest reading my latest article on Deutsche Welle. Middle Eastern and North African countries rely heavily on wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine. But the current war could lead to a severe food crisis in a region already under pressure.
This week has been characterized by Israeli and Turkey diplomatic interventions in the ongoing war in Ukraine. Both countries are trying to play a pivotal role in ending Russian military operations in Ukraine.
Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spent last weekend between Russia and Germany and tried to mediate to end hostilities.
On Saturday, Mar. 5, he flew to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Although both sides officially provided no details over the three-hour-long encounter, reports said the two leaders discussed the Ukrainian crisis and the ongoing talks in Vienna between world powers, including Russia and Iran, about reviving a 2015 nuclear deal.
Bennett then continued his diplomatic journey to Berlin, where he met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The two leaders reportedly discussed the war in Ukraine and Bennett's meeting with Putin.
On Tuesday, Mar. 8, Bennett spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky didn't describe his conversations with Bennett, but he did list the Israeli as one of the world leaders who has contacted him recently.
Previously, Zelensky had expressed disappointment in Bennett's response to the invasion, telling reporters last week that, unlike other Israelis who have showered Ukraine with love and support, he didn't feel the prime minister was "wrapped in our flag."
Israel seems to be well-positioned to mediate a truce between Russia and Ukraine. But it also has interests to protect.
The meeting in Moscow was the first between Putin and a Western leader since Russia sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Israel voted alongside the United States and other Western countries at the United Nations General Assembly last week in condemning the Russian invasion. But it has also refused Ukrainian pleas to send military gear, including defensive supplies. Instead, the Israeli foreign ministry is coordinating a broad humanitarian effort.
Israel needs to safeguard its own national interests vis-a-vis Moscow, such as its freedom to strike at Iranian targets inside Syria. Furthermore, it has preemptively made significant efforts to protect some 200,000 Jews still residing in Ukraine who might need to be evacuated under Russian fire.
If you want to learn more about the Israeli diplomatic involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war, read more here (Al-Monitor) and here (Foreign Policy).
Turkey
For Turkey, mediations have started more bashfully. However, the foreign ministers of Russia (Sergey Lavrov) and Ukraine (Dmytro Kuleba) met for face-to-face talks in Turkey today, Mar. 10. This is the first high-level contact between the two sides since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Although some experts don't see a breakthrough in negotiations, it is a significant achievement for Turkish diplomats. They could get the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine to sit together around a table in a neutral location.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has worked hard to forge close ties with his Russian counterpart Putin, despite being on opposing sides of several conflicts, including in Syria and Libya.
Turkey depends on Russia for energy supplies, and Russian citizens represent a significant slice of the tourism sector for Turkey, as they made up 19 percent (4.7 million) of its foreign visitors last year. Such factors have led Erdogan to insist on not abandoning either Russia or Ukraine.
Furthermore, Turkey offered to host talks between their leaders since the beginning of the conflict and has refused to join sanctions against Moscow, abstaining during a vote at the Council of Europe. Still, at the same time, it denied access to three Russian warships through Bosporus and Dardanelles straits on Feb.27-28.
Turkey has to deal carefully with Russia due to its implications in Syria. Erdogan wants to prevent the emergence of a Kurdish state and maintain pressure on the People's Protection Units (YPG), a group linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which the United States and Turkey have designated a terrorist organization. Turkish officials have to consider Russian sensibilities to accomplish these goals, as Moscow is the most important external actor in Syria and can thus complicate Turkey's military operations there and frustrate its diplomatic efforts.
At the same time, Ukraine is Turkey's closest post-Soviet ally in the region, and Ankara wants to show solidarity without destabilizing relations with Moscow.
Turkey has generally supported Ukrainian independence and the country's territorial integrity. Erdogan denounced Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and has advocated on behalf of Crimean Tatars (a Turkic ethnic group) who have suffered under Russian rule. Furthermore, it sold armed drones to Ukraine ahead of Russia's most recent invasion, including Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones that have been deployed to significant effect in Libya, Syria, and Nagorno-Karabakh.
Read more here (France 24) and here (CFR).
Iran Nuclear Talks amid the Russia-Ukraine war
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has made Iran nuclear deal both more urgent and more challenging to get. Despite progress in the negotiations to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the accord's future is at stake after a last-minute Russian demand for an exemption from Western sanctions.
The deal would sharply restrict Iran's nuclear program and allow it to sell its oil freely on the world market at a critical moment when the war in Ukraine has threatened supplies. But to get there, the Iranians are insisting that U.S. President Joe Biden lift one of the terrorism designations of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
However, Russia added a new complication when its foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, demanded assurances from the United States that the Western sanctions imposed on Russia over the war not interfere with Russia's future trade with Iran.
Lavrov asked for "written guarantees" from the U.S. that wide-ranging Western sanctions targeting Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine would not affect its economic and military cooperation with Iran.
The US has promptly rejected Russia's demand, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying that such requests are "irrelevant" and that sanctions on Russia over its Ukraine invasion "have nothing to do with the Iran nuclear deal."
Should an agreement on reviving the deal be reached, and Iranian oil brought back onto the market, it would be an important signal to Moscow that global dependence on Russian energy may be diminishing.
Some experts agree that the Russian invasion might negatively impact the Iran nuclear deal negotiations. Moscow may try to take the nuclear talks as a hostage to its benefits or use it as a bargaining chip to reach a deal with the West over Ukraine.
Read more on here (Deutsche Welle) and here (The New York Times).
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates don’t want to talk with Biden
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the U.A.E.'s Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan declined U.S. requests to speak to Mr. Biden in recent weeks. In recent weeks, Saudi and Emirati officials have become more vocal in their criticism of American policy in the Gulf.
The Saudis have signaled that their relationship with Washington has deteriorated under the Biden administration, and they want more support for their intervention in Yemen's civil war, help with their own civilian nuclear program as Iran moves ahead, and legal immunity for Prince Mohammed in the U.S., Saudi officials said. The crown prince faces, in fact, multiple lawsuits in the U.S., including over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
The Emiratis share Saudi concerns about the restrained U.S. response to recent missile strikes by Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen against the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia, officials said. Both governments are also concerned about the revival of the Iran nuclear deal, which doesn't address other security concerns and has entered the final stages of negotiations in recent weeks.
Read more on The Wall Street Journal.
Egypt and the Russia-Ukraine war
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has put Egypt in a bind due to the country's intertwined interests with both the United States and Russia.
On Feb. 24, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry commented for the first time on the Russian attack on Ukraine, stressing "the need to give priority to dialogue and diplomatic solutions, and to the endeavors that would speed up a political settlement of the crisis in a way that would preserve international security and stability."
Egypt called for an emergency Arab League meeting on Feb. 27 to discuss the repercussions of the Russian war on Ukraine.
Observers believe that Cairo's call aims to unify a neutral Arab position toward the crisis, particularly since the United Arab Emirates (UAE) abstained from voting Feb. 26 on a draft resolution on Ukraine at the United Nations Security Council, reflecting the UAE's implicit bias toward Moscow.
On Feb. 28, the Arab League held a meeting to discuss the repercussions of Russia's war on Ukraine. It issued a neutral diplomatic statement affirming its support for resolving the crisis through dialogue and diplomatic means.
However, Egypt stepped away from this neutrality after the ambassadors in Cairo from the G-7 countries called on Egypt on Mar. 1 to vote against the Russian invasion at the UN General Assembly.
Cairo voted Mar. 2 in favor of the UN General Assembly's resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Still, it also tried to lessen the impact of the vote on its relations with Moscow affirming that "the vote emanated from its firm belief in the international law's rules and the principles and purposes of the UN Charter."
Egypt also tried to keep the Suez Canal away from the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. Cairo announced on Mar. 3 that the Suez Canal would not be closed to Russian ships.
Like other countries in the MENA region, Egypt relies on Russia for energy imports. Just days before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Read more on Al-Monitor.
Angelina Jolie in Yemen
Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie on Sunday, Mar. 6, visited Yemen to show solidarity with displaced families in hopes of mobilizing support for an incoming fundraising conference, the United Nations said.
Jolie, who is a special envoy for the U.N. on refugee issues, landed in the southern coastal city of Aden to meet with families and refugees there. Aden is the seat of the internationally recognized government.
The U.N. refugee agency hoped that Jolie's visit would draw attention to growing humanitarian needs in Yemen ahead of the annual High-Level Pledging Conference for Yemen on Mar. 16.
Read the full reporting on AP.
An Israeli rabbi in Iran
Jacob Yisrael Herzog, an ultra-Orthodox Israeli rabbi, traveled to Iran. Israel's arch-nemesis.
Under Iranian law, Israeli citizens are not allowed to enter the country. But according to a report in the Times of Israel, Herzog was able to enter using his US passport. Herzog, who lives in Jerusalem with his wife and eight children, has previously attempted to establish a Jewish community in Saudi Arabia, traveling to the kingdom five times since last summer. In Tehran, he was seen posting photos of himself at the Grand Bazaar and at a site believed to be the Tomb of Esther and Mordechai, wearing his traditional ultra-Orthodox clothing.
Some media organizations, including Revolutionary Guard-affiliated outlets and many Twitter users who are politically close to conservative and pro-government currents in Iran, have slammed the authorities for permitting Herzog's entry.
Read the full story on Middle East Eye.
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About me
My name is Dario Sabaghi, a freelance journalist. I am interested in human rights and international news focusing on the MENA region.
Check out my work at dariosabaghi.com.
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