Kosachyov doubts Trump's Middle East tour can help region
MOSCOW. May 23 (Interfax) - U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East tour is unlikely to bring about a breakthrough in regional affairs, Russian Federation Council international affairs committee head Konstantin Kosachyov said.
"It would be premature to expect a certain breakthrough or a sudden change in Middle East affairs after Trump's tour. That would have happened long ago if it had been possible," Kosachyov told Interfax, referencing Trump's visit to the Middle East.
The U.S. leader's trip gave rise to many questions, Kosachyov said, adding that the media had mentioned a noticeable difference between the speech he delivered in Saudi Arabia, on one hand, and election speeches and harsher remarks on the Islamic world and extremism, on the other hand.
"So far, it is not always clear what Trump actually wants besides the obvious goals of seizing the initiative in the Middle East, supporting allies, and scaring opponents," he said.
Trump opposed terrorism in his speech, "but everyone remembers that he said a lot about terrorism before but delivered his first strike on a military airfield in Syria," he said.
"Similarly, while in Riyad, he urged the Islamic world to unite for fighting terrorism, but everyone who listened to the Trump speech felt 'a tinge of Iran'. It was Tehran that the U.S. president blamed for instability encountered by the region in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and, obviously, Syria; he called on everyone to isolate Iran," he said.
The United States will again bolster the Sunnis in the balance of Arab forces, but that won't help solve regional problems, first and foremost terrorism, "which Iran and Syria supported by Russia are fighting in a more efficient and adamant manner than anyone else," Kosachyov said.
He doubted the viability of the 'Arab NATO' idea, which, according to the media, Washington was nursing. "The only reason why no military alliance with strict discipline has been created by now is that those countries differ so much from one another and that, as known, the East is a tricky thing," he said.
"We have already seen an 'Arab NATO' prototype, a U.S.-led coalition, which treaded water in Syria for years in an attempt to create 'a moderate opposition' while actually arming and inspiring ISIL. Hence, the pile of Middle East problems will definitely not be reduced, but Trump will bring home a big deal and a feeling of seized initiative. It is still unclear what the primary objective was," he said.
The 'Arab NATO initiative' is targeting Iran, and the United States sees it as a way to hand over control over the problem-solving process to time-tested loyal local forces, Kosachyov said.