"There are opportunities for broader negotiations to help Iranian forces leave Syria and return to Iran, which would be a significant step forward."
– John Bolton, US Adviser on National Security MOSCOW – Kremlin officials are in intense negotiations with counterparts in Washington to conclude at least one deal that they say will allow President Donald Trump to brag about his summit with Vladimir Putin as a triumph that justifies measures to repair relationships.
The role of Iran in Syria tops the list for the July 16 meeting in Helsinki, Finland, a problem that Moscow is simultaneously negotiating with Tehran, said a senior Russian official in the guise of 39; anonymity. Putin has agreed in principle to US and Israeli demands that Iran-backed forces in southern Syria be kept clear of the Israeli border, replaced by troops loyal to the Israeli border. Government of Damascus, two Kremlin After studying Trump's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, during which he announced a surprise stalemate with US military exercises with South Korea, Putin decided that he would not be able to do anything. he had to negotiate personally with the billionaire. to elaborate. The two leaders could meet without their advisors, as Trump and Kim did in Singapore, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Meeting in a tête-à-tête
U.S. Ambbadador in Russia, Jon Huntsman, has confirmed plans for a one-on-one meeting during a conference call Thursday, saying that Trump would go to meet with his "eyes wide open" on Putin's intentions. to demand the ousting of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a position formulated before Russia rocked the country's civil war in favor of Assad with the help of Iran . US National Security Advisor John Bolton, who met with the recently re-elected Russian president to lay the groundwork for the summit, told CBS News on Sunday that Assad is no longer "the strategic problem" in Syria – Iran is. "Let's see what happens when they both meet," said Bolton, who has long advocated regime change in the Islamic Republic. "There are opportunities for a broader negotiation to help get Iranian forces out of Syria and bring them back to Iran, which would be a significant step forward."
The first enlarged meeting between the two leaders is seen as an opportunity to turn a new page into relationships that plunged to the bottom over a host of problems. They include the war in Syria and the sanctions imposed on Russia for its alleged electoral interference, its annexation of Crimea and its support for secessionists in Ukraine
Yet, Putin's ability to enforce any agreement involving the action from Iran to Syria, even though it proposes to deploy troops to stabilize the border areas in question. This in turn fuels worries in Washington and among American allies in Europe that Trump could proclaim the Helsinki meeting a breakthrough without extracting real concessions.
Trump trumpeted Kim's vague commitment to "denuclearize" as a major victory for world peace. reports from researchers and media organizations have since detailed North Korea's efforts to boost nuclear fuel production, build more missile launchers and develop a rocket engine.
Russia has supplanted America as referee Vladimir Putin is ready to appease Trump when it comes to Iran, according to Andrei Kortunov, head of the Council of International Affairs of Russia, a research group created by the Kremlin.
"Trump can not force Putin to turn away from Iran," Kortunov said. "Putin is not ready to push Iran too hard and he can not rely on Trump."
Russia and Saudi Arabia have already thwarted Iran and accepted Trump by agreeing to roll back some of the price cuts. At the same time, Russia is also working to rescue the Iranian nuclear deal that Trump has abandoned and mitigate the sanctions that he has reimposed. The Foreign Ministers of Russia, China, France, Germany and Great Britain will discuss the issue with the Iranian authorities Friday in Vienna
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, said Wednesday about the implementation of all agreements are reached. Despite everything, he warned that "it is absolutely not realistic" to demand that Iran withdraw completely from Syria.
"As in any other part of the world, you must first sit down at the bargaining table. Lavrov told reporters in Moscow
After seven years of fierce conflict, Iran and pro-Israel forces, including Hezbollah, have built a formidable presence along Syrian borders with Israel and Lebanon . According to Dmitri Trenin, head of the Carnegie Moscow Center, repeated missile strikes from Israel and threats of further action by Russia to put pressure on Iran
while Russia and Iran are on the same side. against rebels armed by the United States and their allies, their interests now diverge as Putin seeks to gain its gains with regional support, said Trenin, author of the 2017 book "What is Russia? in the Middle-East?"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet Putin in Moscow next week for the second time in as many months.
Putin's changing positions on Syria and oil have angered the authorities in Tehran, according to Ali Khorram, former Iranian ambbadador to the United Nations.
"Russia has not only stabbed Iran in the back in Syria, but has also announced that it is ready with Saudi Arabia to push back the Iranian quota of $ 50,000. OPEC, "writes Khorram in the daily Arman.
Finding a Common Ground
Putin's strategy is to try to find a middle ground between the conflicting interests of the main actors. In particular, it could give Israel the green light to bomb any Iranian convoy attempting to deliver advanced weapons to Hezbollah while allowing Iran to maintain conventional arms deliveries to its pro-Lebanese forces. according to Kortunov, the Kremlin's adviser. For Iran, the main goal is to maintain its influence in Syria and keep the supply lines open, said Ehud Yaari, an Israeli member of the Washington Institute
"Russia has interest in bleeding Iran in Syria, to weaken Iran but not the collapse of Iran because it could lose the regime of Assad, which is its main map, "said Sami Nader, head of the Levant Institute for Strategic Studies in Beirut. "They want Iran to be under control and under control."
