(BBC News) Jonathan Marcus - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday begins a two-day trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories. Zvi Magen, a former Israeli ambassador to Russia and now a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, says, "Russia is now viewing the Middle East as a cause of trouble." "Russia is finding itself challenged by the Islamists' rising power and is feeling isolated in the Arab world." "The ouster of the secular regimes and their replacement by Islamists raises concern in Moscow, with the Kremlin fearing the events of the Arab Spring might inspire similar developments in Russia's soft belly - the Caucasus - and also inside its own territory." "In addition, it views the geo-political activities of Turkey with some suspicion." Dmitri Trenin, Director of the Carnegie Endowment's Moscow Center, describes Putin as "the most pro-Israeli Russian president since the end of the Soviet Union." "Mr. Putin knows many Israeli leaders well - that cannot be said of his relations with many leaders in the Arab world." "Russia is on the map in Syria in quite the wrong way, so a visit to Israel may help to counterbalance that."
2012-06-25 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive