The US-Russia-Israel Summit in Jerusalem Will Be a Curious Photo Op, Nothing More

The idea Russia will force Iran out of Syria for Trump and Bibi is a fantasy

The Trump administration is still chasing after the fantasy that Russia will help push Iranian forces out of Syria:

A senior White House official said in a conference call with reporters that the U.S. plans to stress to Russia during its trilateral national security advisers summit in Jerusalem this month that Iranian forces and their proxies have to leave Syria.

The administration has been seeking Russian cooperation on this front for the last year. It has never made sense. The Russian government has no reason to agree to the U.S. plan. Why would Russia do the U.S. the favor of supporting the administration’s anti-Iranian policy?

Russia stands to gain nothing from helping the administration on this issue, and the administration is not offering them any incentives to make the effort.

Moscow has previously rejected the idea when the U.S. has brought it up:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday urged the U.S. to abandon its demands for Iran to surrender its influence in the region, describing them as “unprofessional and unrealistic.”

Nothing has changed in the last nine months that makes Russia any more likely to agree now. Just last month, Lavrov reiterated his view that U.S. demands were “unrealistic.” Besides, driving Iran out of Syria after the Iranian government has done a great deal to prop up Syria’s government is almost certainly beyond what Russia can achieve with its influence even if it wished to try.

The relationship between the Syrian and Iranian governments is important to both, and neither of them will want to do anything to undermine it. The administration isn’t just pushing on a locked door. They are pushing on a locked door that wouldn’t get them what they want even if it opened.

The administration’s problem is that they wrongly believe that other governments share their opinion of Iran’s role in the region. Reuters quotes an administration official saying this:

But beyond discussions to prevent any unintended military escalation, the U.S. official said the goal of the talks would be “to see how we can potentially work together to get rid of the primary irritant in the Middle East, which is the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The U.S. and Israel may consider Iran to be “the primary irritant,” but Russia doesn’t see things this way and it isn’t going to respond favorably to efforts to enlist them in an anti-Iranian pressure campaign. Russia wants to cultivate good relations with Israel, so they are participating in the meeting, but that participation shouldn’t be taken as a sign that they are interested in giving Bolton what he wants.

All in all, this meeting in Jerusalem will make for a curious photo op, but it isn’t going to produce anything significant.

Source: The American Conservative

8 Comments
  1. Ron Wheeler says

    Daniel Larison, good article, this is precisely why I financially support both CkeckPoint and Russia Insider. These 2 news outlets have generally better written articles and overall a higher caliber of intellectualism.

  2. Séamus Ó Néill says

    This psychopathic America regime has butchered its way around this planet since its inception but especially so since it aided and abetted in the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991 and became the sole superpower. It has now run out of steam , but its satanic overlord and master wants more..its wants the destruction of several nations and the whole ME to itself. Have these stupid imbeciles lost it completely , are they even touching on reality? They want the reborn Russia ,whom they’ve sanctioned to the hilt and whom they still wish to annihilate…they want them to help them to destroy a friend and ally so that a demonic leech , currently infesting Palestine , can achieve its evil ways. Good luck with that one you brain dead halfwits !

    1. Linda Wren says

      I totally agree. Putin does not back stab anyone never mind allies & so he told them. I’m waiting for the Saudis to wake up to Israelis future plans. Jordan Egypt also.

  3. Inferior says

    Putin would be mad to do any favour to a country that seeks Russia’s total collapse and perhaps demise. Beside that who Russia is going to rely on about Afghanistan? How about Syria where heavy lifting on the ground was and still is beng done by Iran? And Putin shouldn’t forget that Iran is invited to Syria by Assad just like Russia is so Putin asking Iran to back off is out of the question. If Putin is Judo master Iranians are master strategist, it is no wonder they have survived USA and her phony sanction for over 4 decades. Perhaps it is time Russia finally came to its sense and helped the Syrians to gain the control of Golan.

  4. JustPassingThrough says

    “All in all, this meeting in Jerusalem will make for a curious photo op, but it isn’t going to produce anything significant.”

    👍🏿👍🏿

  5. jm74 says

    If Putin is going then he needs to be careful; send a double to israel. JFK got done in and Putin is the danger man to the US/West.

  6. John C Carleton says

    It will be a gathering of Rat Minions.

    Israhell is the Rats nest.
    Putin’s Russia loves Israhell and runs political interference for the Rats.
    Washington DC is Anti-American, and controlled by the Rats.

    Going to be a pedophilic Rat party!

  7. CHUCKMAN says

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