Putin’s Syria trip shows he’s unfazed by Iran tension

Bloomberg

With the world on edge over rising tensions in the Middle East, one leader seems unfazed: Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
The Russian president arrived in Damascus in just his second visit to Syria since the start of the country’s civil war nearly nine years ago.
The timing is significant. The US and its allies are assessing the damage after Iran fired a series of missiles at US-Iraqi airbases early on Wednesday in retaliation for the killing of Tehran’s top general Qassem Soleimani. Markets are on edge and uncertainty reigns over the continued US military presence in Iraq.
But Putin is pushing ahead with his own agenda in the region. The Russian president travelled from the Damascus airport to a command post of Russian forces where he met his counterpart and ally Bashar al-Assad.
“This is a clear signal to allies and opponents that when stability declines and risks rise, when uncertainty appears, Russia underlines that its presence in the Middle East is unchanging, unlike the US,” said Andrey Kortunov, director of the Russian International Affairs Council, a group with close ties to the Kremlin.
“In contrast to Donald Trump’s unpredictability, Russia’s consistency becomes advantageous.”
Russia’s 2015 military intervention in the Syrian conflict was not only key in saving the Assad regime but heralded the arrival of a new powerbroker in an already volatile and crowded region.