Tensions are escalating in the Middle East after US president Donald Trump’s announcement that he was pulling US troops out of Syria. That gave a greenlight to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s desired incursion over the Syrian board to cleans the area of Kurdish fighters.
On top this Iran has locked horns with the US over sanctions, Saudi oil production facilities were recently bombed and an Iranian tanker was struck by missiles last week. in short the situation is fraught.
All this plays well for Russia. President Vladimir Putin has found himself on both sides of several of these arguments — friends with both the Kurds and the Turks, friends with both Tehran and Riyadh – and is emerging as a major broker in the region.
I sat down with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for an interview during the annual Dialogue of Civilizations Rhodes Forum to talk over the politics of the Middle East and how Russia fits into this fast changing picture.
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