Russia now a key force in the Middle East

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, at the World Energy Congress in Istanbul on Oct. 10. © AP

 

TOKYO — On Sept. 28, when OPEC made a surprise agreement to cut oil production, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had a heated phone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. A cease-fire in Syria brokered by the U.S. and Russia was on the brink of collapse. Kerry and Lavrov would continue to talk during the following two days but in the end failed to keep the truce alive.

On Oct. 3, the U.S. government proclaimed bilateral peace talks regarding Syria dead.

Just like that, Russia has emerged as the decisive force in two situations reshaping Middle East politics — the Syrian civil war and oil prices.

Putin teams up with Turkey’s ERDOGAN as threat of WAR between Russia & the West increases

RUSSIA has teamed up with Turkey to announce a coordinated military strategy for Syria and the construction of a new gas pipeline running between the two countries.

The collaboration between Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan comes amid growing tensions between Russia and the West.

The ruthless leaders met in Istanbul on Monday to discuss the Turkish Stream gas pipeline and a joint military strategy in Syria, resulting in an agreement to share intelligence and the joint provision of humanitarian aid.

Russia prepares to attack the petrodollar

The US dollar’s position as the base currency for global energy trading gives the US a number of unfair advantages. It seems that Moscow is ready to take those advantages away.

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Lately, China has led the BRICS efforts to dislodge the dollar from its position as the main global currency, but the “sanctions war” between Washington and Moscow gave an impetus to the long-awaited scheme to launch the petroruble and switch all Russian energy exports away from the US currency.

The main supporters of this plan are Sergey Glaziev, the economic aide of the Russian President and Igor Sechin, the CEO of Rosneft, the biggest Russian oil company and a close ally of Vladimir Putin. Both have been very vocal in their quest to replace the dollar with the Russian ruble. Now, several top Russian officials are pushing the plan forward.