What Other “Good Services And Mediation” Will Russia Provide To “Israel” & Syria?

By Andrew Korybko
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Russia Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova promised that her country “will continue to provide the appropriate good services and mediation in future” between “Israel” and Syria after brokering a deal for the former to release two Syrian inmates in exchange for the remains of “IDF” soldiers that Russian forces dug up in the Arab Republic and which were transferred by none other than President Putin himself to Netanyahu as part of an ultimately successful tactic last month to help the Prime Minister win re-election.

The Public Promise

Russia proverbially let the cat out of the bag this week after Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova promised that her country “will continue to provide the appropriate good services and mediation in future” between long-running enemies “Israel” and Syria. Her acknowledgement of Russia’s pivotal behind-the-scenes diplomatic role in the region comes after it brokered a deal for “Israel” to release two Syrian inmates in exchange for the remains of “IDF” soldiers that Russian forces dug up in the Arab Republic and which were transferred by none other than President Putin himself to Netanyahu as part of an ultimately successful tactic last month to help the Prime Minister win re-election. There’s no doubt that “Putinyahu’s Rusrael” is one of the most powerful players in contemporary Mideast geopolitics, but this “special relationship” is now taking on a qualitatively new significance after Mrs. Zakharova’s public promise.

“Political Incorrectness”

“Israel” and Syria are decades-long enemies and the Arab Republic’s own constitution even proclaims that the state is at “the forefront of confrontation with the Zionist enemy and the bedrock of resistance against colonial hegemony on the Arab world and its capabilities and wealth”, which is why it was politically provocative for the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman to say what she did because it proves that her country is providing “good services and mediation” between Damascus and the Zionist entity in spite of the Syrian state’s constitutional mission to fervently confront the occupiers of Palestine. That’s not to say that indirect interactions between the two through Russia aren’t pragmatic and don’t serve any mutually beneficial purpose, but just to point out that this is nevertheless very controversial and that Damascus would have probably preferred for Moscow to have not publicized its activities like it so proudly did the other day.

A “Plausibly Deniable” Punishment?

Given the currently tense state of Russian-Syrian relations nowadays after Russia’s refusal to help its “ally” survive the ongoing fuel crisis, the distinct possibility that it’s setting a strategic trap for it through the Tartus port deal, and President Putin and his Special Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev both putting words in Syria’s mouth two weeks ago about Idlib and “Israel”, it can’t be ruled out that Mrs. Zakharova’s remark was intended to be a “plausibly deniable” punishment for Syria after Damascus failed to “compromise” with Moscow on the Russian-written “draft constitution” and the issue of initiating the dignified but “phased withdrawal” of Iranian forces from the country. After all, there’s nothing more embarrassing for Syria than Russia bragging to the world that it’s mediating between it and “Israel” and then describing these efforts as “good services” because it makes one wonder what other possible deals Moscow is attempting to broker between the two other than the prisoners-for-corpses one that was recently clinched.

Towards The “Deal Of The Century”

Realistically speaking, there’s a credible chance that it might have to do with Iran’s military presence in the country, specifically in the southwest near the occupied Golan Heights. There’s been a conspicuous halt in “Israeli” bombings these past few months that certainly has nothing to do with the S-300 “status symbols”. Rather, it’s much more likely that this is caused by Syria refusing to allow Iran to violate the buffer zone that Russia carved out 140 kilometers beyond the occupied region at “Israel’s” behest, which is a de-facto step towards tacitly recognizing its territory as “Israeli” per what might be one of the secret provisions of Trump’s forthcoming “Deal of the Century” that Russia might have promised to fulfill as a prerequisite for negotiating a so-called “New Detente” with its Great Power rival. Recognizing this very realistic possibility doesn’t mean that Russia will succeed in its pursuit, but just that this is likely what Mrs. Zakharova meant when she promised that her country “will continue to provide the appropriate good services and mediation in future” between “Israel” and Syria.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

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