Middle East geostrategic vector of the Russian Federation

The Russian Federation is actively seeking to reestablish its influence in the Middle East, which at one time was an important area of geostrategic interests of the USSR. In the 1990s, Russia was trying to consolidate itself in the Middle East by demonstrating its participation in the settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict and in helping to curtail the Iranian nuclear program. Recently, the Russian Federation has strengthened its presence in the Middle East by supporting B. Assad’s authoritarian regime, besides, the provocation of instability in Syria, in the face of the fight against ISIS, has led to an increase in the flow of refugees to the European Union, which thereby undermines its stability and unity. Russia is also interested in spreading control over the extraction and transit of energy resources to Europe, and because of the support of the destruction in the region of the Middle East, Moscow is taking steps to eliminate energy rivals in the European market for hydrocarbons, as the oil and gas transit of the Persian Gulf is carried out precisely by the territory of Syria. In general, the overwhelming task of strengthening Russia’s influence in the Middle East is to patronize the creation of an anti-Western coalition from among such states as Syria, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt and Libya. An indication of this is the build-up of Russia’s supply of Iran and Egypt with the latest weaponry in order to increase their geopolitical weight and change the balance of power in the region as a whole. With all of the Russian-Turkish relations are unstable, primarily because of differences in the support of the Syrian regime, B. Asad