Russia considers Middle Eastern cooperation to halt attacks on Ukraine's energy and infrastructure

The US and Russia have taken small steps towards ending Ukraine's bloodshed and the other improving relations between the two major powers.

President Donald Trump's call with Russian President Vladimir Putin led to an agreement on Tuesday that Russia would halt Ukraine's energy and infrastructure attacks. They also discussed potential cooperation in the ever-instable Middle East, when Trump recently ordered a military strike and the recent Israeli airstrikes have just ended a two-month ceasefire.

The highly anticipated call between Trump and Putin on Tuesday did not lead to the long-term peace deal the US president wanted. But even so, it was a clear step towards that.

“This process is now completely effective. Hopefully, for humanity, we'll get the job done!” Trump boasted after the meeting with a true social post.

Details of the ceasefire

The White House statement in part states:

Leaders agreed that the move to peace would begin with a ceasefire of energy and infrastructure and technical negotiations on the implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, a complete ceasefire, and a permanent peace implementation. These negotiations will soon begin in the Middle East.

A Kremlin statement indicates that a partial ceasefire was soon implemented. “Vladimir Putin has responded proactively to this initiative and has given the order to respond immediately to the Russian troops,” the statement said.

Russia wants more concessions from Ukraine, including a halt to keep Ukrainian forces, in order to sign a permanent ceasefire agreement, the Kremlin said in its statement. Russia has also once again emphasized “the need to eliminate Russia's legitimate security interests, the underlying cause of the crisis.” This is a reference to the NATO invasion of the East and the establishment of the Ukrainian army.

Russia also announced on Wednesday that prisoner exchanges will take place between the two countries. According to a Kremlin statement, countries will trade 175 prisoners from their respective sides, and 23 more inmates will be replaced by seriously injured Ukrainian soldiers handled by Russian medical institutions as gestures of goodwill.”

A tone from the White House shows that this is just a step towards further negotiations that lead to “a complete ceasefire and lasting peace.”

Tuesday's talks came after Putin refused to propose an immediate ceasefire last Thursday. The Russian leader has shown that he wants a more Russian-friendly agreement. Ukraine, whose president went missing again in consultations on Tuesday, had already agreed to the proposal.

Middle East tensions

Trump and Putin discussed many other important issues, according to a statement from the White House and the Kremlin. One of the most pressing things is the Middle East, where tensions heat up again. Trump and Putin “we spoke widely about the Middle East as a region of potential cooperation to prevent future conflicts,” the White House said. The Kremlin statement reinforces the discussions between the two leaders about the “Middle East situation.”

Over the weekend, Trump ordered a series of airstrikes in areas owned by Hooty in Yemen, vowing to use “overwhelming deadly force” until Iran-backed terrorists halted attacks on vessels along the maritime corridors. Trump ordered these strikes without Congressional approval, as he's become accustomed to what the US president unfortunately does. On Tuesday, the president issued a statement indicating that the United States is open to full-scale military attacks Iran. He said:

The diplomatic diplomacy publication said it had segregated the May/June 2024 campaign against Ukraine from the west, bringing it closer to member states of the “turbulent axis” including Iran. By then, Russia had deployed more than 3,700 Iranian-designed drones. Iran and Russia have also worked together to maintain Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in power, but recently failed attempts. The report also stated that Russia has been “one of Tehran's top weapons suppliers in the past 20 years and is now the largest source of foreign investment. Exports to Russia to Russia increased by 27% in the first 10 months of 2022.”

Perhaps Washington and Moscow can work together in ways that prevent serious military intervention in the Middle East and war with Iran.

Israel's interest

One country that does not oppose US attacks on Iran is Israel, which has had to deal with attacks from Iran-backed proxy groups for some time.

On the same day, two leaders spoke, and Israeli forces launched a deadly air attack in Gaza, ending a two-month ceasefire. Gaza health officials claim that hundreds have been killed. Given the nature of the attack, there is little doubt that people have been killed. However, given the open support of the wild parade of blood-covered Israeli civilian prisoners following the attack on October 7th, there is no reasonable reason to believe Gaza authorities are telling the truth.

According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, the reason for the attack was because Hamas refused to release the remaining hostages that took place on October 7, 2023. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saa reinforced his message, saying that the ceasefire talks were dead ends and that Israel would “resume alternatives.”

Improved relations with Russia

Trump's arrival at the White House overturned a long-standing Western approach to treat Russia as an enemy. In its statement, the White House concluded with an emphasis on this aspect of the talks, saying that Trump and Putin “emphasized the need to improve bilateral relations between the US and Russia.”

The two leaders agreed that a future with improved bilateral relations between the US and Russia has great advantages. This includes enormous economic transactions and geopolitical stability when peace is achieved.

The United States has a checkered relationship with Russia. Before the Cold War, the two were allies to the power of the axis. However, after the war, and for about half of the 20th century, the two pointed to nuclear weapons to each other. However, it ended with the official collapse of the Soviet Empire, which left the United States as the only superpower of the world.

Today, the United States is facing a new juggernaut of China, the enemy that Russia has a friendship with. Some argue that they too created a threat to China as US international financiers helped to promote the accumulation of the Nazis and Bolsheviks.

Is the Trump administration trying to build ties with Russia part of a larger strategy to prevent it from approaching China, and perhaps preparing for an open conflict with China?