JOSH COHEN: There's a new sheriff in the Middle East
'The Sochi summit conspicuously did not include delegates from the United States or the European Union. And while its focus was on the Middle East, it’s clear that Putin has expanded his influence beyond the region'
Vladimir Putin’s global stature appears to be at an all-time high. Some observers call the Russian president the Middle East’s New Sheriff and for good reason. Last week, during a series of meetings with the leaders of Syria, Turkey and Iran in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, Putin took the central role in a major diplomatic push to end Syria’s civil war by winning support from Turkey and Iran to host a Syrian peace congress.The Sochi summit conspicuously did not include delegates from the United States or the European Union. And while its focus was on the Middle East, it’s clear that Putin has expanded his influence beyond the region. In Europe, he destabilized Ukraine by annexing its Crimean peninsula and supporting separatists in the Donbass region after Ukrainians overthrew their pro-Moscow president in 2014. In Asia, he has developed an increasingly close relationship with China. In the United States, charges of Russian interference in the 2016 election to help Donald Tr...
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